Home » new stem teacher » Page 2

Tag: new stem teacher

1st grade STEM curriculum

1st Grade STEM Curriculum, Tips & Ideas [K-5 STEM Series] [ep.82]

1st Grade STEM Curriculum, Tips & Ideas [K-5 STEM Series] [ep.82]

1st grade STEM curriculum

Check out the full episode on 1st Grade STEM Curriculum, Tips & Ideas [K-5 STEM Series]:  

 

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Have a STEM question? Leave a voice message for the podcast!

Episode Summary

Have you wondered what a 1st grade STEM curriculum should look like? In today’s episode, I’m sharing an overview of my 1st grade STEM year-long plan. This is part two of a six-part series in which I’m breaking down grade levels K-5 and showing what it looks like in the STEM classroom.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • The main lessons I teach my 1st graders
  • What a week of 1st grade curriculum looks like in my STEM classroom
  • The top three skills a first grader should leave your STEM classroom with

Resources Mentioned:

Some items are linked to my Amazon Affiliate account. When you purchase through my link, there is no added cost to you, but I receive a small commission in return.

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith  00:00

What should a first grade STEM curriculum look like? In this episode, I’m sharing with you an overview of a first grade STEM year long plan, an example of a lesson throughout the week, and tips and tricks when you are teaching your first graders a STEM lesson. This is part two of a six-part series where I am breaking down each grade level, K through five, and what it can look like in the STEM space. Whether you are a STEM teacher, a classroom teacher, or a specialist that implements STEM, I think you will find a lot of useful information in this episode when it comes to teaching STEM with your little first graders. 


Naomi Meredith  00:52

If you haven’t had a chance to listen to the last episode, I talked about how I break down everything in Kindergarten. I do get a lot of questions when it comes to teaching STEM with the littles. So if you haven’t checked that out, make sure to go back and listen. But not necessary, if you haven’t listened to it yet, you can still listen to this episode and then go back and listen. Likewise, if you don’t teach the younger students in STEM, don’t shut off this episode. It’s actually really good for you to hear where kids might come from when it comes to the STEM space. So maybe you don’t teach the littles in STEM, but maybe there’s an opportunity for classroom teachers in your building to teach them, and you could share this episode with them. So it’s great as a teacher in the elementary space to see that long range of what it can look like in the STEM space. Likewise, I know it is super overwhelming when it comes to lesson planning in STEM, especially when you teach all of the grade levels. I came from being a classroom teacher for six years and entered the K-5 STEM space with no curriculum whatsoever. But I have figured it out with tips and tricks along the way and through my experience for the past five years. So I am excited to help you all the time. I am working on something behind the scenes that I want you to join in on to get that extra support. So you can join at Naomimeredith.com/special. And you will be the first to hear about this brand new to me thing that I have never done with you guys. So definitely jump in on that you definitely don’t want to miss out. Also, if you’re driving, feel free to DM me on Instagram at NaomiMeredith_ and I’m happy to send you the link there because again, it’s something I’ve never done before and it’s so exciting to help you out in the STEM space. 


Naomi Meredith  03:18

For this episode about first grade, a fun fact is that I student taught in first grade for quite a while. My undergrad program was definitely trial by fire. I was working in a title one school. So my school that I went to for college had a partnership with a lot of districts in the area, a lot of Title One schools to push student teachers into these spaces. And oftentimes we got jobs out of these, which I actually did end up working at the school I student taught at so it was a school, a district I had never heard of. But a lot of my time, like I said was spent in first grade. And I have a special love, if you could see my face right now, I have a special love for Kindergarten. I still do. Kindergarten is still my favorite even after teaching them in STEM for five years. And I did also student teaching first grade. It’s just not for me. And I still feel that way. For some reason, a first grader and a kindergartner are very different to me. First graders are like tiny teenagers, I swear to you, my Teacher Honey is a high school teacher. And he’s not the best at little kids when it comes to teaching them. I’m also not the best at teaching high school kids. So that’s where we have our differences. But I told him he could definitely teach first grade because the things they say to me and their attitudes are what he tells me that his high schoolers have so we have a lot in common when I tell my first grade stories and he tells his high school teaching stories. So lots of fun to have there. But I’m going to share with you three different things when it comes to teaching STEM in the first grade setting. So I’m going to talk through a snapshot of the overview of the year. So the big main lessons that I teach my first graders, then I’m going to break down a sample week what that actually looks like. And then, in my opinion, three big things that a first grader should walk away with knowing in a STEM space. So let’s get into it. 


Naomi Meredith  05:19

If you’re curious to see the structure of my full year K through five, you can download the year long plan for free. If you go to Naomimeredith.com/yearlongplan or just go to my website, it’ll pop up and you can put your name in. I have a lot of updates in store for this next year, especially when it comes to the primary grades, so you can see where it’s at now. But like I said, there’s going to be some updates. And then you can re-download the plan and see what those awesome fun things are. So here is how I break down my year when it comes to first grade. It’s very similar to Kindergarten in the way I structure it. And so if you’re thinking about how you could do things for primary and Kindergarten, they’re very, very similar. I do teach different lessons when it comes to the major projects in first and Kindergarten. Now, when I do STEM stations, there are a lot of similarities or they might overlap the tools, but change out the content. So just keep that in mind. For this snapshot of the year, I’m just going to talk about the major projects and not the specific STEM stations. STEM stations are something that I started implementing in the past couple of years since I had more time with kids. And so that’s not reflective yet on the year long plan. So just keep that in mind. Also, with my year long plan, I do plan in curriculum unit. So K through five, we have the same big umbrella topic. And then there’s a progression of learning within that. So when you listen to this series, you’re going to hear those themes over and over again, because everybody’s working on a part of that theme that works best for their grade level. First, I start off the year to welcome kids back to school with STEM survival camp. And the first graders are tasked with the challenge to build a fishing rod or a fishing pole to catch the fish. So we talk about the Engineering Design Process. They use the materials in my classroom and things from outside, and they actually design a fishing pole. And there are different fish that I haven’t caught in my classroom. It’s so cute, they love this challenge. They do take them home, we make sure they go in their backpacks right away. But some of my students have come back and told me they brought their fishing pole on a actual camping trip, which is so so cute. From what I know, no real fish were caught with those fishing poles. But I love how they were taking the learning outside my classroom and into their own real worlds. Next, we get into digital citizenship for our next unit. And of course, digital citizenship is something that is taught all year long. It’s not a one time thing. And my vision of digital citizenship is that as a STEM teacher, you are giving a STEM twist. And really I think that about all the lessons that you should teach. So a classroom teacher is of course, and should be teaching digital citizenship, but you are also teaching it in your space, because it’s extremely important. I use a lot of Common Sense Media’s curriculum, it’s a completely free. I highly recommend they have some great video clips. And I have a STEM project that relates to those topics. So I know for sure that kids aren’t doing this lesson with their classroom teacher because I made it up. So what we talked about is safe online activities. So what are green means go activities, what are things that are good for kids at their age, because that is important. There are things made for kids out there, but they’re just not ready for it yet. So that’s when we talk about those yellow light online activities. So things that just want you to grow into. And then those red stop, those are not made for kids. We need to be cautious and really think about the things that we are saying online. So it’s really helping students with that metacognition, and what activities are safe, not safe and like a definitely big no, no. So we talk about the internet traffic light and we create a traffic light and we sort the different activities that I give them to help them understand what are different situations that can pop up in their little worlds. After that, we move into Makerspace month, and we are talking about bioluminescence in first grade. So there’s a standard that talks about how there’s Earth light. Well, we take it in a different direction, Earth’s light and living things. So not all light is coming from electricity, or even the sun, moon and stars but it can also come from living things like glowing mushrooms and anglerfish. I’m telling you first grade has some really great science content, first grade is hard for me kidwise. I love their science, they have some really fun content, and they have a lot of stuff about animals. So they love this topic, they are so enthralled by it. I wrote articles for them, me reading them out loud, to help them research more about bioluminescent things, and then they have to think of something that they wish was bioluminescent, and create that living thing and explain what that bioluminescent part helps them with. After that, we’re moving into November and this is a new lesson that I have been testing out with first grade, so it’s not up yet in my store. But they did an awesome job. And we talked about the sun, moon and stars things we can see in the sky during the day, during the night and both. And we’re doing a first grade version of video production. Now, there’s not a whole lot of editing involved. But kids can still make a thoughtful video that isn’t just rambling, if you know what I am talking about. So we talk about how the days are longer and shorter during different parts of the year, and how the Earth rotates around the sun and has that orbit. And students create props to represent these items, we create a guided script together. And then students help one another to use these props to demonstrate the concept that they learned. It is so cute to see the kids collaborating. Yes, we have the same script, because the whole goal is to really get them to be comfortable on camera, and also explaining their ideas thoughtfully. So one student is holding the camera, the other is doing the props, and they’re talking. And they’re really understanding these concepts and how the seasons work during the year. After that is the Hour of Code. So December is Computer Science Week and computer science month. And this is again, a great time to do this. I’ve said this on past episodes, I have a whole episode about the Hour of Code. But you really do want to do the Hour of Code during those December months because the kids are a little restless and it’s very low prep. This is one unit, I don’t do a whole lot of my own creation because there are so many great coding tools out there. So for first grade, I don’t do a whole big project. But I pull out a lot of different coding experiences, where they can explore different types of coding. A new one that I started implementing was the Osmo coding kit, which is excellent with iPads and Kindles. It’s a hands on coding, which I talked about it in the last episode, that Kindergarten episode. So I do this with first grade and it’s awesome. We are back from winter break and then we go from coding in December. And then we come back and work on some robotics. Again, another lesson that I tested with them. We were talking about animal babies and their adults and how the adults care for their babies. Not all animals care for their babies. So we talked about the ones that do. And there are different signifiers that help the parents take care of their young, like giving them shelter, giving them food, and giving them comfort. They always giggle when I give them the example that I am the animal parent of my dog, Frederick the dog. And if you are watching the video version, he is always sitting behind me in his little bed listening to me record. And I do all of these things for my little baby boy. So they giggle and laugh. And for this project again, another one that I am testing. It’s not up yet. So there’s a lot of updates coming to this year long plan that aren’t even written on the year long plan. Um, students were researching about their favorite animal that Epic Books had and how they care for their young. We create the animal baby and their adult. And then we have a zoo, where they code their robots to visit the different animals in the zoo. And you can use whatever robots in this one. So this is really fun, a quick challenge. We also do some STEM stations that are winter themed throughout the week. But that’s what I do for robotics. Next, we get into 3D printing. And I’ve said this before I do 3D printing K through five. And another standard that is in there for first grade is all about animal family traits. So again, we do some research about how parents and their young are similar and different in appearance. We talk more about their appearance, not so much their attitudes. And then again, they choose their favorite and then they design the baby animal and their adult and our 3D print program. And we print it out and then we add those physical features. So they’re so proud of themselves that they created. That is 3D printing. Next and I’m not sure if I talked about this in the Kindergarten one but I do switch it up and do my LEGO education kits. So currently in the year long plan you’re gonna see I do LEGO education at the end of the year. I actually switch that up and do LEGO education during the springtime because the kids are a little antsy and they need to work on that collaboration. In the LEGO we do 1.0, which is an older kit. You can’t get them anymore. So you can substitute the LEGO education kids however you want, if that’s something that you have. Now, if you don’t have the budget to purchase LEGO education kits, I recommend having some sort of task or challenge when it comes to LEGO, maybe not necessarily a build and take apart in one day’s situation. But think of a unit that they could do that’s related to standards that they could build and work on that. One kit I really am loving right now is the LEGO spike essential kits. It is diverse for first through fifth grade. So look into that if you are looking to buy some LEGO. I’ll do an episode about LEGO in the future and how I set that up with my students. But if you’re looking to buy something I highly, highly recommend. It’s so diverse, it can do so many things. Jennifer Mahin and I talked about it in her guest episode. It’s awesome. It’s really good. After that, if we have time in the year, we will get into stop motion animation, and we will talk about biomimicry. So how a lot of inventors use different things from animals. We will talk about the different things that humans see in nature that will inspire them for their designs, and really play off of those different things like think about a turtle. The design of it is a lot like a turtle shell it protects our head just like how it protects the body of a turtle. So students will research more about biomimicry, and then they will create their own invention that’s based off of biomimicry and all the articles that I wrote for them. And then they’ll create a stop motion to share their ideas. Then we will finish off the year with my favorite and the kids new favorite, it’s a close tie between STEM survival camp and we have STEM-musement park to end the year, they always ask about these two units. And we talk about how we can communicate things using light and sound. And how at carnivals they communicate using light and sound to attract customers to their station and also communicate if points are won. So students have to design a game that will have some sort of communication, whether it’s to draw customers in or it’s something in their game, and with light or sound, and they have so much fun designing this. 


Naomi Meredith  17:20

Now you heard the whole recap of the whole year. So what does it look like during the week. Like I said, it’s very similar to what I do in Kindergarten. But sometimes the projects can last a little bit longer in first grade, especially since they are used to me at this point. If you want to see how I actually go through and plan those, I have a K through two STEM planning workshop. It’s all recorded now, just two hours of your time. And you will be awesome at STEM planning and look at it from another perspective. So when I have my first graders, when I go back to that 3D printing example, I will do the project for about one to three days, I have kids five days in a row. But if you have a different schedule, you could do this too. We will work on the project for about one to three days. And then the last two days, we will do STEM stations, again, very similar to what I’ll do in Kindergarten, but I will change out the content. So I shared with you that 3D printing example when we’re talking about animal families and their traits. So we will go through that Engineering Design Process quickly for their grade level during those three days. And then the last two days are STEM stations. So some stations that I have done in conjunction with this unit is we have done pixel animals, so pixel art animals, I love using the blocks billboards for this or any similar type of small block that helps with their fine motor skills, then we will do some geoboard animals, and then move into a Seesaw lesson where there is one I created or one that I actually found off seesaw, which there’s been some really good ones in there lately. So definitely check that out. And then they will also do a robotics coding station where there are different animal traits on a board. And then they have to compare the baby animal and the adult, how they’re the same and different. And then code those different traits. Again, something else I am testing and working on. So this unit is going to get some revamping. First graders do an awesome job at stations. I know they do it with our classroom teachers. So I love doing stations with first graders and kindergarteners, once they get the hang of school. They’re really great and they are so calm. So if you want to see again, in my workshop, I’ll show exactly how I plan stations. When you think about the whole unit. It is an absolute game changer. 


Naomi Meredith  19:31

So you’re probably wondering, in my opinion, what are the top three skills that a first grader should walk away with when they are leaving a STEM class and are using those STEM skills? Maybe you’re a classroom teacher. What should they be able to accomplish? Based on what I’ve seen, here’s what I think a first grader should walk away with in no particular order. First is being able to use all of the elements of the Engineering Design Process or whatever method you are constantly using with your students. I do I use that with my students, but we really can get into it in first grade and being able to do that at a level that works best for them. So they should be able to walk away with a basic understanding of how that works, and being able to use that repetitive process. Next, as a first grader, I hope that they are able to collaborate in up to groups of three. So yes, with a partner and Kindergarten we talk about hopefully, you can collaborate with a partner, not just doing that parallel play. But sometimes in first grade, we can move up to a group of three when we have very specific roles. So that is something I really challenged them to be able to work on. And finally, I would love a first grader to leave my STEM space, being able to thoughtfully explain how their design works. So you get a lot in Kindergarten, look, look what I made. Look, see, see, see what I did, which they’re excited. Good. Awesome. Yeah, I’m so glad you worked. And you are creative on that. As a first grader, I still want them to be excited. I want all kids to be excited. But how does your design work? Tell me more about this. What does it do? What problem are you solving? And this is a great opportunity to share their thoughts in Seesaw because they love to chat. 


Naomi Meredith  20:18

As a recap, here is how I would set up my first grade STEM curriculum. We first talked about the overall year and how you can break that up over the course of the month and giving a whole bunch of different experiences. Next, I shared with you the structure of the week and how I would break that down for a unit. And finally, in my opinion, the top three skills that a first grader should walk away, leaving your STEM classroom with now I know again, it is so overwhelming and I am here for you, I am loving this podcast that I know you guys are too I love all the messages. And so there’s so many things I’ve created for you to help give you support, I have that new thing coming up. So that will be officially announced on May 1 2023. But it don’t want you to miss out on that. So just make sure you sign up using the link naomimeredith.com/special. And you will hear all about what that new to you and new to me thing is that will definitely support you. And also all the lessons that I’m talking about and the future updates who will be included. So those are all linked in the show notes for you. So the K through two STEM planning workshop, there is a bundle of just the first grade STEM lessons if you only want those lessons, but I also have it broken into K through two STEM lessons as a bundle and also K through five you can get the full year. Again, there’s going to be a lot more updates in this upcoming year as I have been testing things with my students and trying new things out. And especially when it comes to the STEM station. So if you grab any of those today, you’ll get it at the cheapest price. And you’ll get all those updates for free. So I really try to analyze and make these work best for you and things that I’ve seen work well with students. Thank you so much again and I will see you in the next episode when we are going to talk all about second grade.

1st grade STEM curriculum

 

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

 

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

 

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a K-5 STEM educator and business owner in Colorado supporting elementary teachers world-wide navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there. She has over a decade of experience teaching, 5 years teaching elementary STEM, along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM Certificate.

She offers a variety of resources to help teachers feel successful teaching STEM to their elementary students through lesson plans, online courses, coaching and speaking events.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM, innovation and hands-on learning in their classrooms effectively. She can’t wait to connect with you and be your guide!

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

Are you tired of scrolling online for your next great STEM lesson? Do you feel like there is no time to plan, research and test meaningful STEM lessons, so you throw together a hands-on activity and hope that it works? What systems and routines should you set in place to help students be creative, critically think, and collaborate? 

The Elementary STEM Coach is a podcast for K-5 STEM teachers, classroom teachers, GT specialists, and homeschool parents looking for actionable STEM solutions. Each week, Naomi Meredith will share tools, resources and lesson ideas that are actionable in your classroom and create highly engaging experiences with your students. You’ll learn systems and routines that will create control in the chaos and that will keep you organized all year long. 

Your mindless scrolling days are over! Your new STEM-best friend is now here in your ear buds!

STEM teacher interview

3 STEM Teacher Interview Tips [ep.79]

3 STEM Teacher Interview Tips [ep.79]

STEM teacher interview

Check out the full episode on 3 STEM Teacher Interview Tips:  

 

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Have a STEM question? Leave a voice message for the podcast!

Episode Summary

Are you hoping to land a STEM position at your school? Maybe you’re wondering what are some important things that you need to consider when interviewing for a STEM position. In today’s episode, I share three STEM teacher interview tips to keep in mind when you are preparing for a STEM teacher interview.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • 3 tips for preparing for a STEM teacher interview
  • How to stand out in your interview
  • How my STEM teacher interview went

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith  00:00

Are you hoping to land a STEM position at your school? What are some important things that you need to keep in mind when interviewing for a STEM type position in our elementary schools? In today’s episode, I’ll be sharing with you three tips to keep in mind when you are prepping for that STEM teacher interview. Take it from me, I have been in your position before. I interviewed for a K through Five STEM job, and I got it. So let’s jump into these STEM teacher interview tips. 


Listener Question  01:03

Hello, I hope you’re having a good day. I’m actually just sending you a message because I have an interview on Monday for a STEM job. And I’m just wondering if you have any suggestions for me. I have been a teacher for 18 years. And I’ve always wanted to be a STEM teacher. And they just recently had a position that’s coming open next year at my school first time we’ve ever had STEM. So I’m not really sure what kind of questions they are going to ask me. And I was just wondering if you could give me some advice.


Naomi Meredith  01:31

Great question from a fellow teacher. She must have been reading my mind because I actually had this episode planned for a while. I pushed it up on my content calendar because I’m sure she’s not the only one who was wondering the same question. Before I landed my K through five STEM role, I taught second grade for two years at a title one school, which was actually the school that I student taught at, so then I landed a job the following year. Then I moved and needed a job that was a bit closer to where I was then living. So I interviewed and applied for a job in another district and ended up teaching third grade for four years. During that time, I was attending conferences, every free and paid training where I could learn innovative and creative practices that can enhance my teaching. From there, I would apply those things with my students. I had so much fun being a classroom teacher for six years, but I had that feeling in me that I wanted to make an even bigger impact. So I was looking at a neighboring district, and there was a K through Five STEM position that popped up at the time. I didn’t really know anybody at this school. Later on, I applied and then ended up having a connection, which is pretty funny, because that actually happened when I got my third-grade job. But anyway, I applied for this position, and I interviewed for it. Long story short, I got the job. If you want to hear actually how the interview went, go back and listen all the way to Episode One. It might not be what you expect. Yes, I got the job, but my feelings about it are not what you expect. Anyway, I landed the job in this new to me district new to me position and a school with zero curriculum and limited supplies. So, of course, that is another story for another podcast episode, in which there are tons about lesson planning. 


Naomi Meredith  03:34

But you are here for those interview tips. So what should you keep in mind when you are prepping to be a STEM teacher and interviewing? More likely than not, a lot of you are probably coming from the classroom, you’ve been teaching for a while, and you’re interested in this type of role. You think you’re ready for it. So how do you interview for a position you haven’t done before? So here are my top three tips when you’re going into this type of interview. My first tip when prepping for a STEM teacher interview is to showcase your creativity. This is a highly creative role. I’m not saying to not apply if you’re not creative, but it is super up in the air. Pretty much, I would say for most teachers I’ve talked to when they’re in a STEM role for what you teach. So you have to be comfortable with being creative and trying new things. So definitely showcase that in your interview. It kind of makes sense to me with my journey with teaching over the years and even when I was in my undergrad getting my teaching degree. I love being creative, even if it’s not STEM related. I am a very, very creative person, and so this is something I definitely showcased in my interview. Think about the lessons that you will teach as a STEM teacher. All lessons are creative, even the lessons when it comes to coding and robotics, every single lesson that is taught in my classroom is creative. So you definitely want to highlight that. Now a good thing to keep in mind is to think about the creative lessons that you have taught your students. So you probably are interested in this world because you probably are doing this type of stuff with your students anyway. So before an interview, just sit down and write down some of those creative things that you have done with kids. If you have taught a multitude of grades and just thinking about primary and secondary, think about projects that you have done with both of those grade levels. In a position like this one, it’s very common, where you’re going to be teaching a huge span of students, and you need to have those capabilities to be able to teach them all. So I taught second grade and third grade. But then I did a lot of afterschool clubs with older students, I did a Math Olympiad, a Battle of the Books, club science clubs. So if you haven’t specifically taught that grade, maybe think about other ways that you have been involved with them. Or even think about the types of lessons that you would do with that age of students if you don’t have any specific experience to talk about. 


Naomi Meredith  06:14

Next, to think about in your STEM teacher interview is to showcase your technology skills. I think I’ve mentioned this before, but not only am I our K through five STEM teacher, but I am our technology person full-time. So, I also had to showcase what are some ways that I am able to troubleshoot and problem-solve with technology, which, even if you’re not the technology person, and that’s not going to be part of your role, you need to know how to do this with technology. I didn’t have somebody come in every single day that I’ve taught my students and say, “Hello, here’s the technology you’re going to teach as a STEM teacher. Here’s exactly how to use it.” That’s where I come in. That’s why I’m doing this podcast and doing what I do. But for me, I didn’t have that. So you might not have that either in your building at all times. Again, I’m here for you. But you need to showcase in your interview how you can problem solve, be creative with technology, and be willing to try new things. You’re not going to know everything, and technology is always changing. Like I didn’t know how to do 3D printing at all. I had a couple of 3D printers I troubleshooted. I did a lot of Googling, that is your best friend. So you definitely want to showcase that and think about, again, specific lessons that you have taught in your classroom when you have been using meaningful technology. I’m not talking about things like oh, my students typed on a Google Doc, oh, we use Google Classroom. Sure, great. But that’s not very innovative. What is going to actually make you stand out? What are some cross-curricular lessons that you have taught when it comes to using technology? Bonus points if you are being creative. 


Naomi Meredith  07:57

Finally, the third thing to think about in your STEM teacher interview is to showcase your lesson planning skills. Back in episode 11, I talk about all the ways that I think classroom teachers make great STEM teachers. So definitely go back and listen to that because I think that’s really going to help you when you’re prepping for this interview or hopefully pitching yourself to have this type of job in your school or district. As I said before, most of you might not have interviewed for a job like this before or even have had this type of job, so it is scary. You don’t really know what’s going to be expected of you, and that’s the creative part. It’s really fun. But you do have the skills when it comes to lesson planning. If I wasn’t a classroom teacher before becoming a K through five STEM teacher, I think I actually would have drowned when it comes to lesson planning. As I said, there was zero curriculum. Over the years, I have built a full K through five STEM year-long plan that is differentiated and leveled based on the ages of my students, you can grab the whole year-long plan at Naomimeredith.com/yearlongplan. But you coming into this interview, you don’t need to have all of your STEM lessons figured out. You can have them, but you don’t need them necessarily for this interview. So think about how you creatively lesson plan. See how all of this kind of goes together. Creativity, technology, the lesson planning standards are still important in STEM. There is a huge misconception out there that STEM is just throwing out cool toys and letting kids play with them. There is a ton of exploration in my class, but everything is very purposeful, and everything is aligned with standards. There is a big goal in mind. So yes, we do robots. Yes, we do that. But what is the purpose behind the robots? What is the task that we are going to complete? How are we integrating Common Core ELA and math standards? How are we adding in Mathematical Practices, the ISTE standards for students, the Engineering Design Process, your science standards? Don’t just listen as I did. But really think about a lesson that you have done when you are integrating standards. Again, think about primary and secondary, but you have the skills of lesson planning, you’re just going to be shifting to how to merge that all together for multiple grade levels. Also, how can you implement some tools that aren’t always super common in the elementary classroom yet? 


Naomi Meredith  10:32

So as a recap, here are the three things that you need to keep in mind when you are tackling that STEM teacher interview. First, showcase your creativity. Next, showcase your technology skills. Third, showcase your lesson planning skills. Now, you might be wondering, what was the end result of that voice message that that teacher sent me? Here is what she emailed me back. So I actually sent her some interview questions, something that I had in my Google Drive. I sent them to her, and she emailed me back. I got the job, thanks for checking out your stuff. And just so you know, she has checked out my stuff. And she is actually a member of our STEM teacher bookshelf community and is collaborating with like-minded teachers like us. So a great place to join. Now, if you want to get in on these questions, I have them for you inside my STEM Teacher 101 Course. I have added a new module where there are 10 sample questions that, if I were interviewing people to be a STEM teacher, is probably what I would ask. These are probably some most common questions, or ones that are similar, that you would be asked. Not only are the questions inside of this STEM teacher 101 course, you actually will be able to hear me answer the questions. So I am taking on the role of a classroom teacher, so looking at my past self and how would I answer them coming into this type of interview. So you can get some ideas, hearing me talk, you might even have similar experiences, of course, make it personal to you. Let your personality shine, but I want to help you on this journey. That’s why I do what I do. And definitely check that out. It’s a great way for you to feel confident about this STEM teacher interview, and I am here right by your side. You can grab that at Naomi meredith.com/stemteacher101. And, of course, that is all linked in the show notes. Thank you so much. And let me know if you get that STEM interview. I can’t wait to hear and have you as part of my big STEM community.

STEM teacher interview

 

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

 

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

 

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a former classroom teacher turned current K-5 STEM teacher and coach. Her role not only includes teaching over 500 students in her school, but also leading professional development and co-teaching with teachers to help them integrate STEM & Technology.

With over a decade of experience along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM certificate, she helps teachers navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM & Technology in their classrooms effectively. She can’t wait to connect with you and be your guide!

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

Are you tired of scrolling online for your next great STEM lesson? Do you feel like there is no time to plan, research and test meaningful STEM lessons, so you throw together a hands-on activity and hope that it works? What systems and routines should you set in place to help students be creative, critically think, and collaborate? 

The Elementary STEM Coach is a podcast for K-5 STEM teachers, classroom teachers, GT specialists, and homeschool parents looking for actionable STEM solutions. Each week, Naomi Meredith will share tools, resources and lesson ideas that are actionable in your classroom and create highly engaging experiences with your students. You’ll learn systems and routines that will create control in the chaos and that will keep you organized all year long. 

Your mindless scrolling days are over! Your new STEM-best friend is now here in your ear buds!

chat GPT for teachers

Chat GPT for Teachers: 3 Ideas for STEM [ep.68]

Chat GPT for Teachers: 3 Ideas for STEM [ep.68]

chat GPT for teachers

Check out the full episode on Chat GPT for Teachers – 3 Ideas for STEM: 

 

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Have a STEM question? Leave a voice message for the podcast!

Episode Summary

There has been so much talk about Chat GPT, but what in the world is it? How can we use it as STEM teachers? Is Chat GPT for STEM teachers? In this episode, I will be explaining what in the world chat GPT is and three practical ways you can use it in your classroom.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • What Chat GPT is
  • How you can use it in your classroom
  • Examples of searches I did using Chat GPT

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith  00:00

You’ve been hearing all of this talk about chat GPT, but what in the world is it? How is it even helpful for us as STEM teachers? In this episode, I will be explaining to you what in the world chat GPT is and three practical uses of how you can use it in your classroom. 


Naomi Meredith  00:51

First, let’s get a basic definition of what chat GPT is. Chat GPT is a type of AI or artificial intelligence software. I don’t know why it’s actually called Chat GPT, but think of it as another AI tool like Siri and Alexa. So it is a base where you can actually ask it questions, and it will answer you. In fact, I actually had chat GPT help me write a definition. I asked it. So you type your little question. I asked it to write me a definition to explain chat GPT to an elementary student. So here’s what chat GPT came up with, and I thought it was actually a pretty good definition. Chat GPT is a talking computer program that can understand what people are saying and can respond to them in a way that makes sense. It is like a smart robot that can have conversations with people and natural language, just like how we talk to each other. It has been trained on a lot of books, articles, and other texts. So it knows a lot of words and can use them to answer questions or have a conversation. I’m going to explain to you how I’ve actually used this in my STEM lesson planning. It’s actually pretty fun. As of now, at the time of this recording, it is a free tool. So look it up. It’s linked in the show notes. So when you go in there, you’ll just create a free account, and then it will actually save all the little conversations that you have with chat GPT. It’s almost like, in a way, if you remember Ask Jeeves, where you would ask a question, and he’ll come up with like a more conversational answer. It’s kind of like that with back in the day, if you know what I’m talking about. So it’s kind of like that it’s a little bit different than a Google search, where in a Google search, you’re looking for articles, blogs, podcasts, maybe podcasts like this one. But it’s, again, more in a conversational way, and it will come up with more of a conversational answer, which is pretty awesome. Of course, with any technology, there is a lot of pushback as to what the repercussions of this can be, especially since it is pulling from so many different resources. My worry is how is this playing into copyright and how much is it pulling for one source than another. So the ways that I’m using this in my STEM classroom it’s not so much to publish information but more as a way to really help with my lesson planning and more of a brainstorming idea. Kind of think of it like you’re bouncing ideas off of another person. That’s how I like to use it in my STEM instruction. Also, especially as a STEM teacher, and really any teacher in this world that we live in and preparing 22nd Century learners, we really need to learn to embrace new technology. Anyway, I am still learning what chat GPT is. So even after this recording, I’ll probably learn more. There are going to be some updates, of course. But it’s cool to try out new stuff and see how it can be helpful. You can always take a little bit of that, a little bit of this, a little bit of that, and see how it’s gonna work out. So, of course, it’s not a perfect tool, and you’ll hear from my examples of how it’s not, but it’s actually kind of fun to play around with. So let’s jump into these three ways how you can use chat GPT in your STEM teaching. 


Naomi Meredith  04:13

The first way that you can use chat GPT in your STEM classroom is to help you with lesson planning ideas. The other day, my friend Becca McMillan, who you heard on the podcast back in episode 40. We were chatting because we are really good friends, and we were chatting about different STEM station ideas for a specific standard that she was going to teach in first grade. At the time, I actually didn’t have a bank of resources for this particular standard. But I had some ideas in mind but also wanted to do a little bit more brainstorming as I was texting her. So to help me brainstorm some ideas, I went on to chat GPT and typed in Kindergarten hands-on lessons for the weather. I know I just said first grade, but it was actually for Kindergarten, and it was pretty cool. It came up with a list of ideas written in a conversational way. Some really weren’t for Kindergarten, some were so great, but actually, it made me remember Oh, yeah, that would be a really cool idea for weather or, Oh, I could modify this for my grade level. So it didn’t lay everything step by step by step, but it was just kind of like brainstorming ideas. There aren’t any pictures; it’s all words. So it was a really cool way to gather ideas for your STEM lesson planning. We figured out some ideas for her STEM stations, and she was able to take that back into her classroom. In turn, I kept those ideas to the side. So when I’m ready to teach at Stanford, I have those ideas ready to go. As I mentioned before, once you create your free account in chat GPT, it will save all your little conversations with the AI. So you actually can go back into that conversation, reopen it, you can ask the question in a different way, you can have it reworded, you can maybe change the grade level you’re looking for. So pretty cool that it’s all in this one little area, all organized for you digitally. 


Naomi Meredith  06:02

Another way that you can use chat GPT in your STEM lesson planning is to have it help you write kid-friendly definitions. This in the STEM space can be really tricky when you are explaining these high-level concepts to, well, elementary students. In a weird way, this is something I actually enjoy doing. Back in college, I worked at a preschool, and I worked with an awesome lead teacher. I was her assistant, and it was in pre-K. She was so so good at explaining high-level concepts to these little four-year-olds. I took a lot of the things that I learned from her and have applied them in my teaching over the years. But I still get stuck on ways to explain things to kids, especially since I have to know how to teach things to K through five. So sometimes I might know it at a fifth-grade level, but I need to explain it at a Kindergarten level. Because when you look at the standards, well, they have a repetition of things. So for this podcast, I asked chat GPT, to write a kid-friendly definition to describe what the water cycle is. It had a really great example that could definitely help me when I’m creating an anchor chart for my students. Here’s what chat GPT came up with for that definition, “The water cycle is the way that water moves around the Earth. It starts when the sun heats up with water and rivers, lakes and oceans and turns it into water vapor.” So I kept on explaining that water cycle, but it was a pretty good kid definition that, like, hey, that’s really helpful. I like that explanation. I can use that to help explain things to my students, so keep that in mind. If you’re getting a little bit stuck on how to explain these high-level concepts to your kids, check out chat GPT. It might give you some ideas of the wording of those things. 


Naomi Meredith  07:54

The third way that you can use chat GPT in your STEM planning is by creating lists. I definitely love lists. I use a list to help me plan this podcast. But it’s pretty cool how this can help you create a list based on ideas that you give it and questions that you ask. One way that I use chat GPT to help me with list creation is to create book lists for K through two based on STEM standards. Now I did use other tools to help me research, but again, I use chat GPT as a brainstorming tool to help me get some ideas for books that I probably forgot about or books I have never even heard of. When I am talking about books that I have never heard of, be careful with all of the knowledge that chat GBT gives you. It’s not always 100% accurate. It came up with some really cool book lists. But sometimes, when I looked up the books, some of them didn’t even exist. The title of the book sounded awesome. Sometimes it was actually a real author, but they weren’t things that went together. So that was pretty weird. But overall, it helped me as a starting point to create these book lists. If you’re interested in seeing those, those are all in my K-2 STEM virtual planning workshop, which will be linked in the show notes. But you can also jump in on the recording, and that’s at naomimeredith.com/primaryworkshop. It did help me plan out those book lists when creating STEM and stories and books that would really go along with those grade-level standards. So again, another jumping off point to create a list. Another way it is kind of like before when you’re thinking of lesson planning ideas, you could have it list out things to do with certain materials. So I asked chat GPT to make a list of things that kids can do with cardboard. So this could even be a fun after-school club idea. So here are some of the fun things that Chad GPT came up with. Kids can create a cardboard guitar, and it kind of gave me some directions. They said kids can create a guitar by cutting out the shape of a guitar and attaching a cardboard tube as the neck. They can then decorate it with paint or markers. Isn’t that cute how to explain it? It also gives me the idea that they could create a puppet theater using cardboard. They also suggested students could create a bookshelf, which that would actually be a pretty cool STEM challenge. Maybe kids could create a bookshelf and then have books in the library displayed and see how many books it could hold. Just making this up as I’m talking to you. This is how my brain works. So again, another cool way that you can use chat GPT to help you with all of these ideas. 


Naomi Meredith  10:41

As a recap, here are three ways that you can get started using chat GPT as a STEM teacher and implementing this in your classroom. First, you can use chat TPT for lesson planning ideas. Next, it can also help you write kid-friendly definitions. Finally, chat GPT can help you with creating lists. After listening to this episode, I hope you’re not as scared trying out this tool. Definitely check it out, and play around with it. It’s actually kind of fun as well. Just hearing the responses that it comes back with, just like when we were asking Siri and Alexa things, I know a lot of people were very wary of that same kind of vibes, but it’s also a lot of fun as well. So don’t be scared; try it out. Now I will say I wouldn’t recommend using this for elementary students yet because it is so new. It is just we don’t know what it’s going to come up with and when it comes to filters, but think about you as a teacher and how this can be helpful. Now if you want more help with your lesson planning and want me to pop into your inbox like your own personal chat GPT definitely check out my free K-5 STEM year lag plan, where I have the whole year mapped out for you and all of the connected standards and lessons that I teach in my classroom. So that will pop right into your inbox a lot like how chat GPT pops in the little box there with its answers. You can grab that at Naomimeredith.com/yearlongplan. And, of course, it’s linked in the show notes. Have fun with this new to you technology tool, and let me know how you end up using it. I hope to hear from you soon.

chat GPT for teachers

 

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

 

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

 

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a K-5 STEM educator and business owner in Colorado supporting elementary teachers world-wide navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there. She has over a decade of experience teaching, 5 years teaching elementary STEM, along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM Certificate.

She offers a variety of resources to help teachers feel successful teaching STEM to their elementary students through lesson plans, online courses, coaching and speaking events.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM, innovation and hands-on learning in their classrooms effectively. She can’t wait to connect with you and be your guide!

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

Are you tired of scrolling online for your next great STEM lesson? Do you feel like there is no time to plan, research and test meaningful STEM lessons, so you throw together a hands-on activity and hope that it works? What systems and routines should you set in place to help students be creative, critically think, and collaborate? 

The Elementary STEM Coach is a podcast for K-5 STEM teachers, classroom teachers, GT specialists, and homeschool parents looking for actionable STEM solutions. Each week, Naomi Meredith will share tools, resources and lesson ideas that are actionable in your classroom and create highly engaging experiences with your students. You’ll learn systems and routines that will create control in the chaos and that will keep you organized all year long. 

Your mindless scrolling days are over! Your new STEM-best friend is now here in your ear buds!

5th graders aren't motivated

Why Your 5th Graders Aren’t Motivated in STEM and How to Fix It [ep. 66]

Why Your 5th Graders Aren’t Motivated in STEM and How to Fix It [ep.66]

5th graders aren't motivated

Check out the full episode on Why Your 5th Graders Aren’t Motivated in STEM and How to Fix It:  

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Episode Summary

So you’ve planned this STEM lesson. You’ve gathered the supplies, and you’ve made sure that the lesson is exciting. But your fifth graders just aren’t having it. In fact, they don’t even seem interested in the STEM project that you planned. In those moments, you’re probably wondering what’s going on. In today’s episode, I’m sharing why your fifth graders aren’t motivated in STEM and how to fix it.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • 4 reasons why your 5th graders aren’t motivated in their STEM projects
  • Strategies for fixing their lack of motivation
  • Tips for implementing these strategies in your STEM classroom

Resources Mentioned:

Some items are linked to my Amazon Affiliate account. When you purchase through my link, there is no added cost to you, but I receive a small commission in return.

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith  00:00

You’ve planned this STEM lesson, you’ve gathered the supplies, and you’ve made sure that the lesson is exciting. But your fifth graders just aren’t having it. In fact, they don’t even seem interested in the STEM project that you planned. What is happening? In today’s episode, I’ll be sharing why your fifth graders aren’t motivated in STEM and how to fix it. 


Naomi Meredith  00:27

The other day, I hosted a quick poll on my Instagram @NaomiMeredith_. Thank you so much for filling this out. By the way, it was very, very insightful. So the question that I asked was, how are your fifth graders’ attitudes about STEM: 22% of you said they are obsessed, 18% of you said that they struggled to stay motivated, and the majority of you said, at 60%, you said that sometimes they like it and sometimes they don’t. So what gives with these fifth graders? Maybe you even have upper elementary students and sixth graders. What is going on? STEM is supposed to be fun, right? Okay, so here is my take on this. Based on my experience being a K through five STEM teacher, where I came from the classroom for six years and then went into a brand new to me school and district, and really, the kids didn’t have STEM. And let me tell you all the things that I have seen and how you can combat this problem in your classroom. It isn’t an overnight fix. But there are some small changes that you can make so that everybody is having an awesome experience, just like you have planned in your head and like the younger students are having. 


Naomi Meredith  02:27

The first reason why your fifth graders aren’t motivated in STEM is that your projects are missing multimedia research. Think about the ways that you are building background on the projects that you’re doing in your class. Are you building background on the projects? Because students need to have some knowledge about the topic so that their work actually makes sense. Yes, we have all of the awesome building but when you’re really being thoughtful about your planning through the Engineering Design Process or another model, building isn’t the only step. Sure, you can have one-day challenges which I have definitely done. Especially when I had a Monday, one year when I taught eight classes in a row, I did still build some background knowledge. So think about how you’re doing this in your classroom. How are you having students build this knowledge while also having them research in different ways? So think about the tools that you’re using. Are you just giving them books to research? Are they just printed out articles? Is it a random Google search? I know that sounds super helpful, but that is a lesson in itself on how to teach with Google and how to search the proper way. If you’re doing that, awesome. But are you just saying Google it? Are you really showing them how to Google it? So think about the tools that you are having students use to gain information so that it can inform the projects that they’re building. Can you add video clips? There are a lot of great video clips that students can access that are not connected to YouTube on Epic books. Could you even play video clips that are on YouTube as a whole class to help spark the conversation? Maybe add in podcast episodes or clips from podcast episodes to hear another viewpoint. Maybe even adding infographics that you find or create your own, which I do all the time. That can be a way to gather information. Also, pre-researching and tailoring links can really focus students on what they are gathering at the time, and it doesn’t feel so overwhelming. Maybe you do have to write an article but can you add an audio component so it can meet the needs of all learners? It is so nice to have that audio option because then if there’s a word you’re not familiar with, you can listen to that piece. So really mixing this in your projects and helping students feel confident about the topic that they are going to build in is super important in STEM jobs today. In the future reading and gathering nonfiction information is happening, and it’s going to continue to happen. Even if you’re not in a STEM job, you need to know how to access information to inform your decisions. So are you adding in all of these different tools within your STEM classroom? Yes, in STEM, and helping students interact with the world in those ways. 


Naomi Meredith  05:23

The next reason why your fifth graders might not be motivated with your STEM projects is that they might not actually be ready yet. This was really hard for me to realize. As I said, I was new to the position new to the district and new to the school. I was given a brand new classroom with zero curriculum. I had all of these big ideas of what I wanted my students to do. I knew back as a classroom teacher, what I was able to have my third-grade students do and do amazing things in their classrooms. So why not? Can these students do it? Well, I had some lofty dreams, and I’m so glad I kept those dreams. But we were not ready yet. My fifth graders did not like my class. My fourth graders had a better time. I realized pretty quickly that my projects were honestly way too hard for them at this time. There were so many skills that they did not know, like typing in a website link or where their username and password were that I had all of these plans for these super advanced projects. But we actually had to get to the basics. And that’s okay. What I’m doing now, five years from when I started in STEM, is completely different. Because the way that I have planned my lessons has built students up with their skills to help them be successful. So by the time they are in fifth grade, there is more of that motivation, and they have the skills to attack those projects that I had in my head five years ago. Yes, I had to build up those basic skills, and it can be frustrating. The students might be a little bit frustrated, too, that they don’t know these things yet. But even paring down your lessons to make them more simple than you thought might just be where your students are at this year. And that’s okay. Let me tell you why this is okay. I recently had an online chat with our middle school tech teacher who most of our students feed into. She wanted to talk about how she can support us in the transition into middle school. So part of my role, I’m also the tech person. I don’t get paid extra for that. But I also manage our school-wide technology and all of that process. I’ve also co-taught in the past with the teachers. So I’m very familiar with what is happening in the building because I’m in charge of it. So we had a really good conversation. And this is actually really sad too. But it is extremely clear to her and the science teachers that these students have gone to school for elementary. The schools that don’t have STEM it is completely clear that they did not have STEM and that those skills are things that they haven’t been able to work on over the years. When they get to middle school, they’re really struggling. On the flip side, the kids from my school, it’s super clear that they’re from my school because they’ve had those opportunities to collaborate and be creative and try those skills. So when it comes down to it, they weren’t ready. In my fifth grade, my poor fifth graders who left me that first year were working on the basics, and I know I helped them. But really, thinking through your plans and how you can have a progression of learning over the years, you’re definitely going to have to adjust on the skills and getting to know your students. That’s what good teaching is, even as a specialist teacher, but thinking about the way that you are planning and giving them opportunities to practice these skills in a variety of contexts. With a variety of standards, they are standard space, that they are carrying those skills into future years, and that they can be successful and be excited about those future projects. You definitely do have to start somewhere. But hey, this is a great way for you to advocate why kids need STEM because sometimes it is those little things that can help you do those really big things. 


Naomi Meredith  09:16

Along with them not being ready is that I noticed my fifth graders were actually really scared of being creative. And again, this goes along with the relationship that I had with them and the culture of a growth mindset. I’ve of course been building this up over the years. But it is so different when you’re in this unique role, especially as a specialist teacher, because you don’t have them all day every day. The time it takes to build relationships can take longer, especially if you only see each class once a week. So it does take time. Being creative is a vulnerable thing. We’ve talked about that in other episodes. It’s scary for me to be creative here on this podcast and even have this conversation with you right now. And the same with kids, it’s not natural to want to be creative in a new space, even though we think our lessons are very exciting, which they probably are. But it is a lot to be creative and put your ideas out there and have them be different, especially when they’re at that age where opinions from their peers are starting to become very important. It’s not as much for the teachers as it is for everybody else and what they’re gonna think about their work. So really creating that culture where it can be safe to be creative and to have a growth mindset, it is going to take some time. But really having those smaller challenges and paring things down will really help as well. 


Naomi Meredith  10:39

Along with that, your students might not be motivated in your STEM projects is that they actually might need more structure than you think. Being creative within constraints is okay. It provides that safety net, that it isn’t a free for all. That is overwhelming for kids, especially when they have to be taught to be creative, that it’s okay to make mistakes, and it’s okay that it doesn’t work the first time. This is going to take some time, but they definitely need some more structure. So maybe that’s the way that you have materials in your classroom. Back in episode four, when I talk about STEM survival camp, which is my first unit of the school year, this unit is actually really learning about the Engineering Design Process in how you can be creative within constraints. I don’t give them a free for all with the materials in my classroom. And I don’t think that’s a good thing. They actually have only a few things from me on their project. And then the rest is from items outside the classroom, which also creates constraints because it might not be what they found. But then it also gives them the opportunity to talk to each other and for me to talk to them and build that relationship. So building up to that, maybe so and so free for all, it can be helpful. When you do a Makerspace project, do you have a money system? We talked about this back in episode six where you have that structure, and they have a certain budget of things that they can spend, where yes, you have all of the supplies, but you have to be really thoughtful about what you’re using. Also what that structure can be when it comes to working in groups. There’s a huge difference between saying to kids oh, you get to work in a group, and comparing that to, oh, you’re gonna work in a group, but you have very specific roles. And here’s what you’re going to do in these roles. And here’s how you are in charge of these roles. Because it gives them an explanation of the importance of what they’re doing. And they can’t slack off because the role is important to the job. And if they don’t do it, it’s not going to get done. Again, it goes back to that peer thing. They want to impress their peers, so they’re much more likely to be motivated. In the book Limitless Mind by Jo Boaler that I just listened to and highly recommend, hint hint will be in the future book club coming up in the spring. But she also has a part in there where it talks about kids don’t really enjoy working in groups because it is overwhelming and they don’t know what they’re supposed to do and somebody slacks off. And so all of those things that we hear about, definitely recommend that book and also reframing the way you have structure in those groups, but really the structure within projects overall, because that can help build that motivation. 


Naomi Meredith  13:16

And finally, the last reason why your fifth graders aren’t motivated to do the projects in your STEM classroom is that the projects don’t have enough empathy. Students, especially as they get older, they need to see why this project matters. I feel like a lot of times the younger students can actually really see why this is important. And it’s easier to convince them. But as they get older, there’s more like, I don’t really care. Why do I need to do this? Why is this important? And that’s a great challenge for you as a STEM teacher as to, “Well, yeah. Why are we doing this project?” I’m currently working on a 3D printing project with my fifth graders, and they are designing an invention that will help people to protect, prevent, or correct Earth’s resources and why that is a problem. And we’ve really been talking about why this is a problem. What are nonrenewable resources? Who cares? Why is this going to affect you in the future? Why should we be solving these problems and really thinking bigger than ourselves? This is the world that you live in, and we need to create solutions even better than the solutions out there because it’s not working. So really having them think about that empathy piece, and thinking about others and not always themselves. It could even be a school-based project. How can we help others in there? But thinking beyond themselves and giving them a purpose for their work can be really impactful and help again, with that motivation. They’re doing this project for a reason and not for Oh, my teacher is just going to see this project. Awesome way to go. Along with that, give students the opportunity to reflect and to see each other’s work. When we did podcasting, which I talked about that in a past episode, I do have students post their podcasts so that others can listen to their work and even comment on each other’s podcasts. They are super motivated by this, they could care less if I hear their podcasts. A couple of them, my little STEM buddies, really want me to listen to their podcast, but they really are more concerned about what other people think about their podcast, and what they did well, and what they can work on. With that giving students the opportunity to reflect on their work will really help them think through the process of that project. What can they do better and what can they work on? And how did it go? Well, and if they did a project like this in the future, what could they do again, so really giving those opportunities where it’s not just the building, but that their project has a bigger purpose, whether it’s for people in their school building, whether it is for people outside of the school, or even thinking beyond that what their futures might hold, will really help them connect what you’re doing in your classroom actually has a greater purpose. 


Naomi Meredith  16:06

As a recap, here are the four reasons why your fifth graders aren’t motivated with your STEM projects and how you can fix it. First, your projects are missing multimedia research opportunities. Second, your fifth graders might not be ready yet for this type of project. And the keyword in that sentence is yet. Third, they need more structure, especially when it comes to those creative opportunities. And fourth, your projects don’t have enough empathy. These are all things that you can continuously work on as a teacher and reflect on and get your students to that point where you are in that part where they are excited about projects all the time and that you’re not dragging their feet to finish them. Now, I know that it’s a lot without planning. And I am actually here to help. And I’m so excited about this. But I am hosting a live third through fifth-grade virtual workshop where you can join me and other STEM teachers to help with your planning in the upper grades, where we will look at standards where you can integrate naturally STEM projects. And really think through that process of the multimedia research that you’re giving them. The creative opportunities and opportunities for them to reflect and share their work. The info will be in the show notes. So if you’re not able to make it live, then it will be recorded. But the live piece is really awesome because you can ask me questions, and we can tailor a lesson that will fit your needs. So jump in on that third through five STEM virtual workshop. I would love to see you there. And how two hours of your time can definitely change the way that you plan for the rest of the year. And also set up a foundation where you can be the one talking in this podcast where your students are motivated and that they are excited, and that your lessons are really fitting what they need. So can’t wait to see you and that workshop.

5th graders aren't motivated

 

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

 

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

 

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a K-5 STEM educator and business owner in Colorado supporting elementary teachers world-wide navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there. She has over a decade of experience teaching, 5 years teaching elementary STEM, along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM Certificate.

She offers a variety of resources to help teachers feel successful teaching STEM to their elementary students through lesson plans, online courses, coaching and speaking events.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM, innovation and hands-on learning in their classrooms effectively. She can’t wait to connect with you and be your guide!

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

Are you tired of scrolling online for your next great STEM lesson? Do you feel like there is no time to plan, research and test meaningful STEM lessons, so you throw together a hands-on activity and hope that it works? What systems and routines should you set in place to help students be creative, critically think, and collaborate? 

The Elementary STEM Coach is a podcast for K-5 STEM teachers, classroom teachers, GT specialists, and homeschool parents looking for actionable STEM solutions. Each week, Naomi Meredith will share tools, resources and lesson ideas that are actionable in your classroom and create highly engaging experiences with your students. You’ll learn systems and routines that will create control in the chaos and that will keep you organized all year long. 

Your mindless scrolling days are over! Your new STEM-best friend is now here in your ear buds!

1st-5th stem teacher

From Long-Term Substitute to 1st-5th STEM Teacher with Tiana Walton [ep.54]

From Long-Term Substitute to 1st-5th STEM Teacher with Tiana Walton [ep.54]

Check out the full episode on From Long-Term Substitute to 1st-5th STEM Teacher with Tiana Walton:  

 

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Have a STEM question? Leave a voice message for the podcast!

Episode Summary

In today’s episode, I am interviewing Tiana Walton, who is a former long-term substitute and is now a STEM teacher for first through fifth graders. In her role, she teaches over 400 students in her building and loves to teach her students and show them all the ways to learn about projects and create their challenges.

Tiana shares with us her journey to becoming a STEM teacher, how things have been going in her first year of teaching STEM, and more. If you are new to STEM or considering transitioning into a STEM role, this episode is for you!

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • How Tiana transitioned from a long-term substitute to a k-5 STEM teacher
  • How her first year as a STEM teacher is going
  • What surprised her the most about her STEM role
  • Advice for new STEM teachers

Meet Tiana Walton:

Hello, my name is Tiana Walton, a former long-term substitute. I work as a first-year STEM teacher in a small town outside of Lubbock Tx.

My role is teaching STEM to over 400 students in 1st grade – 5th grade. I love getting to teach my students and showing them all the ways to learn about projects and create their challenges.

Being a first-year STEM teacher had its challenges but purchasing this amazing curriculum from Naomi has helped my classroom a ton! My goal is to keep all students engaged, learning, and creating successful projects. The biggest achievement I’ve accomplished is getting to teach this class to my students and successfully keeping them part of every challenge.

Outside of teaching my students, I enjoy hanging out with my two beautiful kids and husband. We stay active by playing sports, participating in gymnastics, and more.

Connect with Tiana:

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith  00:00

In today’s episode, I am interviewing Tiana Walton, who is a STEM teacher for first through sixth graders. Tiana and I connected together on Instagram when she had recently purchased my K through five STEM year long plan. It’s been really fun chatting with her about the lessons that she’s teaching in her classroom when I am teaching the same ones in my classroom at the same time, so it’s been really fun chatting back and forth. She asks me excellent questions all the time. So I asked her, “Hey, why don’t I have you on the podcast? I think you would be a perfect guest to have other teachers hear about you and your story in the STEM classroom.” Tiana is a former long-term substitute and she works in a small town outside of Lubbock, Texas. Her role teaches over 400 students in her building and she loves to teach her students and show them all the ways to learn about projects and creating their challenges. Outside of teaching Tiana loves to enjoy hanging out with her two beautiful kids and husband. She also loves to stay active by playing sports, participating in gymnastics and more. I loved chatting with Tiana and I know you are going to love to hear from her. She has so much passion and excitement for STEM, and it really shines in the way that she talks about her classroom. I hope you enjoy this episode. 


Naomi Meredith  01:50

Well, thank you Tiana’s so much for being here today. I’m so glad that we finally get to chat virtually since we’ve been talking on Instagram over the past few months. When I was starting my podcast, I gave you a little inkling and asked would you want to be on the show? You said yes. So I double checked with you again a few months later, and you’re still excited to be here. So I was so happy to chat with you and you’re in your cute classroom. Before we hit record, you were showing me the cute poster that you have behind you with different inventors. So I know that we’re gonna have a great time chatting together, you’re just so much fun and so smiley. So for my audience and and for me, too, for those of us who don’t know what you yet, if you wouldnt mind telling us about yourself, your teaching background, and then how you stepped into your role as a STEM teacher?


Tiana Walton  02:39

Well, my name is Tiana Walton. I’m a small town girl from Slaton, Texas. It’s about 15 minutes from Lubbock. I stepped into teaching. A few years after I graduated, I became a long-term sub, because COVID hit really hard here. Our district was like, you know, let’s do this COVID relief subs, you know, teachers will be in and out. So I got to spend full-time on campus for two and a half years. Then going into my third year, my admin approached me and she said, “Hey, we have this bright idea. We want to bring STEM to our campus.” And I was like, okay, and she said, Will, you become our STEM teacher. And I said, Yes, of course, without even thinking about it. I was like, Yes, um, yes. And this is my first year, and it’s been so great. Having your curriculum really helped me a lot, because I was like, “Oh, my gosh, what am I gonna do? I don’t have anything to teach.” And just having that K through fifth grade STEM all year long plan has been I mean, it’s been amazing. I don’t have to prep anything besides printing. And I’m like, this is so great. And so I’ve loved it. It’s been a few months, and it’s been going really good. My kids have enjoyed it. The campus has been talking about it. So it’s been perfect for us. 


Naomi Meredith  04:01

Oh, that’s so sweet of you. Well, that’s so sweet how you said yourself in that you like, tell me how you like my year long plans. So it’s so kind of you and I’m so glad it’s been helpful for your role and what a unique background you have, because you’re so used to teaching on the fly already in a sub position. And you probably taught all the grades. So you’re such a great fit for STEM because you already know how it goes, how crazy it is. That’s so interesting that they had COVID Relief subs. I wish we had that at my school at the time, but as we know, it was so crazy. And everyone’s had everything different. 


Tiana Walton  04:37

So the next day was like, Oh, you’ll be here. Oh, wait, nevermind, you’ll go here. So it was really being flexible and being able to fit in each classroom. I mean, it opened up my relationships with the kids too, because now I have my own classroom and they’re like, “Miss Walton, we’ve been waiting for you to teach.” It’s been so good. It’s been so amazing. These students are so kind and they’re loving. They care about you and they know you care about them. So it’s been great being able to build relationships with all of them.


Naomi Meredith  05:11

Oh, yeah, I love that part too. It’s cool seeing all the kids in the school like another STEM teacher I chatted with. You may feel the same way. It’s kind of like being the cool aunt where like you have a really fun loving relationship. You’re like, Okay, you’re on your way.


Tiana Walton  05:30

It’s perfect.


Naomi Meredith  05:32

Yeah, how often do you see the kids? Are you with them the whole week? Or is it just once a week?


Tiana Walton  05:38

So I see first through fifth grade. And so I’ll see each class once a week. So each, each class will come once to me Monday through Friday. So I’ll have one class Monday, another class Tuesday, and it’ll rotate throughout the week. So it’s been great. It’s a really awesome schedule to


Naomi Meredith  05:57

Yeah, that’s interesting. How do you manage projects? Because that a lot of STEM teachers I’ve talked to I feel like are more it’s more common, where you see one, a different class every day, like, do you how do you store everything? How do you manage all of that? That’s a lot.


Tiana Walton  06:12

I have cabinets everywhere in my classroom, and that has been my storage savior. So like, if we do the building your own shelters, everybody I’ve been trying to group them together so that I don’t have individual projects all over the place. So I’ve done table projects for the most part. So each group has a section where they store their projects. So it’s helped out a lot.


Naomi Meredith  06:37

Oh, good. That’s good. Do you do a lot of digital assigning when it comes to the plans or engineering notebooks just because it changes so much every day? Or do you just keep it all with the projects?


Tiana Walton  06:48

I want to try the digital next year because I did all paper this year. So I did a system of where month to month, what we’re working on and classroom folders. So if they do a worksheet, it goes in their teacher’s classroom folder, and then at the end of the month, they’ll take all their papers home. I want to try doing the digital because Google Classroom is what we use. So I feel like if I can put it out there for them, they can do it on Google Classroom, save it and it’s there instead of doing the worksheets and printing it out.


Naomi Meredith  07:20

Totally, I did the same exact thing. I go back and forth to like some things. I still use paper. Like I always have kids plan on paper for the older kids. Because, you know, it’s it’s hard to draw digitally. I mean, for an elementary student, like we don’t have the tools where we have a professional drawing pad with a stylus. So I’m with you, I still use paper for a lot of stuff. But I mean, it sounds like you’re really organized and you’re look you’re happy today, you’re on break, and you’re talking to me, which is pretty amazing.


Tiana Walton  07:52

I know. I’m so excited to be here.


Naomi Meredith  07:56

So what has been your favorite part about teaching STEM? I mean, I know that you love it. You love seeing the kids, but what else has been your favorite part about it?


Tiana Walton  08:04

I think my favorite part about doing it is knowing that there is more to learning rather than just math and reading and STEM steps up for different kids. I mean, you have those kids who rather use their hands to create things rather than reading a book. You have those kids who are all your science nerds and love building projects, and STEM class is a break away from learning. I mean, it’s not preparing you for the star, it’s not you have to make this grade or you know, so I love having the kids be themselves in my class because it opens up to all the personalities on the campus. It’s been really great.


Naomi Meredith  08:48

Good. That’s so funny. Because a lot a lot of teachers I feel like say the same thing, like in different ways. Like I feel like with STEM, you see the kids in a different light that can shine in a different way. And it’s so interesting. I don’t know if you have those conversations too, with like PE or in music. But sometimes it’s just depends on the kid. But sometimes they have a really hard time in PE but then I don’t see those behaviors in STEM. And it’s not that I’m some magical teacher, but there’s just something really special about STEM and that hands on learning and collaborating and PE might not be their favorite. And that’s like more to say why we need more STEM in schools, because it’s just an opportunity that most kids like it, but there are some kids it’s like their thing. And they’re like in their zone of genius. You probably see that too. 


Tiana Walton  09:39

Oh, yes. All the time. I do have those conversations with our art teacher. We always talk about, “Hey, how did the kids do for you today?” Like touch and go like what is something that I need to do to make them feel like okay, this is something they can do and not get into their heads like okay, I can’t do this. This is too hard. So we have those conversations with each other. She’s amazing. She’s always like, so hey, so and so what do you think? What do you think I need to do? And I’m like, Oh, he did great in my class last week. So this is what I, you know, these are the strengths he showed in my class. So we bounce ideas off of each other all the time, even though we teach two different things.


Naomi Meredith  10:20

Yep. Oh, yeah, we have the same thing. Because I feel the same way. Like I know, it can be like an island teaching STEM in a building if you’re not a STEM school, or you’re just a specialist teacher. So me and my teammates, we talk about students, I would say the most and just yeah, how to problem-solve, behavior management tricks, even though we have different subjects. So that’s definitely been helpful, too. Do you have any other STEM teachers in your district or nearby? I know, you said, you’re in a small town.


Tiana Walton  10:48

We have a guy who teaches our GT students, and it’s called Quest. So he touches STEM, but he doesn’t. So it’s like, your gifted and talented kids like those kids that are there above their grade level. So he gets those kids from each grade level, and they do different projects and stuff. It’s nice having him because he’ll come into my class, and he’s like, Oh, you’re doing really great. Like, getting his feedback, because he’s been doing it for years. So getting his feedback, really, like it boosted my confidence, because I’m like, Okay, I messed up on this, like, what in the world am I doing? But he comes in, and he’s like, Oh, you’re doing so great. The kids are always talking about your class. And just getting that feedback from my peers. I mean, it means a lot to me. So it works out.


Naomi Meredith  11:35

Oh, yeah. You’re kind of alone. In a sense, you’re pretty much the only adult in the room. But yeah, always have somebody there. There’s always a child there no matter what. I have a glass wall, so people can see what I’m doing. But I’m really alone all day. So that’s really nice that he could pop in and let you know, because you don’t always know. And trust me, I fail all the time. Like my room is a disaster. And like, I feel like with Kindergarten, I talk about Kindergarten a lot on this podcast, or in general. I love Kindergarten but they’re just so interesting to me, like those little kids were like, sometimes they get through a project really fast. And then sometimes it takes them forever and longer, and I don’t understand. They’re a mystery to me, and I love them. They’re so creative.


Tiana Walton  12:19

It’s exactly how my first graders are like they fly through things. And then they’re like, oh, wait, they’re taking their time on it. They’re coasting through, and I’m like, Okay, wait, this is something we should be pushing through. What are y’all doing?


Naomi Meredith  12:31

I know. And it’s usually it’s even the same class. You’re like, wait, what? What’s happening? If they’re still confusing me. They’re so creative and so confusing. And I know a lot of people struggle with the little kids, but they’re fun. But you even told me before we started recording that your son gets to be in your class, sometimes.


Tiana Walton  12:51

Yes, I enjoy getting to teach him. I’m like, okay, so I get to be the teacher today and not mommy right now. So it’s really awesome, because I get to see what he is like in class. And it’s, I mean, it’s awesome because he’s so invested in my class. He’s so excited about these robots that he wants one for Christmas. So I think getting to see him outside of mom and son relationship has really been, I think it’s really built my relationship too because we get to talk about my class, and he gets to enjoy being in my class. And he’s like, I see you in mom mode, but now I get to see in teacher mode, and it’s so much fun.


Naomi Meredith  13:32

That is so cool and not a lot of teachers can say that they’ve had their kid in their class. That is so amazing. That is so cool. Does he call you mom?


Tiana Walton  13:42

No, he calls me Miss Walton. And it’s so funny. 


Naomi Meredith  13:45

He does?


Tiana Walton  13:47

Yes. Some of the kids are like, that’s your mom. You know that right? And he’s like, Yeah, but she’s Miss Walton at school. So it’s awesome. 


Naomi Meredith  13:54

That is so cute. You’re like, wait, what, 


Tiana Walton  13:57

Like it catches me off guard because I’m like, Oh, okay. That’s how you do.


Naomi Meredith  14:02

Do you call him son? Like, “Hey, bud.”


Tiana Walton  14:04

I’m like, “Hey! Okay, what do you need Torbin? So it’s like, I’m trying. I have to be like, Oh, we’re still at school. I can’t say Hey, son. Yeah.


Naomi Meredith  14:13

That is so cute. He’s like, almost like acting with you.


Tiana Walton  14:16

It catches me off guard that I’m like, Oh, okay. Hey!


Naomi Meredith  14:23

That’s so cute. Well, besides your son calling you your name. Is there anything else that has surprised you in this role? Because it’s very hard, but also very exciting. There’s a lot of surprises like what were you like, oh, like I did not expect that. Has there been anything like that for you?


Tiana Walton  14:44

I think the biggest aha moment for me is the supplies that you use. Like some of the stuff can come from your house, and rather than go and buy it at the store. So it’s like, the supply list to me is like like, “Oh, I can use such and such for this, like, I don’t have to go buy, like all this stuff for it, it can be in the kit.” Or like, we can bring sponges from home and do this. And I’m like, oh yes, like, being the flexibility of the supply list is what really amazes me like, and I was expecting, oh, gosh, I’m going to spend a fortune on supplies. And that’s not been the case. So that’s been the biggest aha moment for me is utilizing supplies that kids use every day at home. In our projects, it’s been very flexible.


Naomi Meredith  15:31

That is a really good point. Because I feel like a lot of teachers that and I felt the same way I had a classroom and no, like no curriculum, also, no materials, and it can be really overwhelming that you have to have a ton of money to get started in STEM. It’s nice to have fancy things like those are nice to have. But like you said, it’s not required. I mean, you taught the whole STEM survival camp unit, half of this stuff is stuff kids find from outside.


Tiana Walton  15:58

And it was so amazing watching them like, Oh, we’re gonna use sticks for this. Oh, wait, Miss Walton, you have popsicle sticks, can we build with popsicle sticks? And I’m like, Yes. Like their brains were like overload. And they’re like, so excited to build all this stuff. And it was awesome watching them put it all in play, what they had planned out. 


Naomi Meredith  16:15

Oh, totally, and it’s cool. It’s good for kids to think of the world in new ways. Like I feel technology is super important. And I’m big on technology and using that. But also I’m really big on creating and doing things screen-free. I don’t know about you, as a kid, I love to build stuff. Like I would sit and build random things for my Barbie dolls. I made them go school.


Tiana Walton  16:38

I was a teacher, teddy bears for the students.


Naomi Meredith  16:42

Same I was saying either Yup, I was the same way. Like making stuff like, okay, like we’re doing art class or whatever. But I think like sometimes kids don’t always get those opportunities where they, their parents might forget about those things. So I’m so glad that they started this program at your school, and you’re excited about it. And you’re noticing we don’t have to have all this fancy stuff, even though you’re gifted all of these Dash robots. Yes. Oh, amazing. But it was awesome. But it’s good.


Tiana Walton  17:11

I know. And I always see parents out there like my kids love your classroom, and they want to know, what can they help bring them like, they don’t have to bring anything unless we’re doing a project. So it’s been, it’s been awesome. I mean, getting the kids involved and the kids using their minds in different ways. I mean, it’s been so great getting to watch them, put what they’re thinking out.


Naomi Meredith  17:34

Totally, and you’re gonna love it next year, and seeing the same kids again, and how much they’ve grown and learn from you. Because that is a really cool thing about being like in a special area. The position is like as a classroom teacher, they move on, you don’t normally move up with them, I wouldn’t do that. But you’re gonna come every year, and you’re gonna see that growth and you know what they did last year, and you get to build up upon that learning. So it’s just a really fun way to connect with the kids. So I know that so you’re so sweet. You’re like already talked about the year long plan. But are there any specific resources of mine that you’ve seen great success with your students or that you really love teaching so far this year? It’s like about halfway through the year. What have been some of your favorites so far?


Tiana Walton  18:22

I think me and my kids enjoy the Engineering Design Process chart. Because they’re like, Okay, we’re asking this, and then we imagine what’s going to happen. And then we’re going to put in our plan, and then we get to share and create like so they’re like, bouncing their ideas back off of that design process. And I love seeing it because I’m like, okay, yes, they’re so they’re invested. They remember it.


Naomi Meredith  18:44

Good. That is so good. Have there been like a certain project that they used that you’re like, “Wow, you guys really understand this Engineering Design Process?”


Tiana Walton  18:53

I think yes. My fourth graders, they did the community, they built their community thing. And I mean, they were like, Okay, so the question, what is the problem in this, we need to build out our landscape for our community. Okay, so the plan will be, and they were like, “Okay, so we’re going to use clay and we’re going to make roads and different things and I love seeing them put together their design, it was amazing. They loved it. They were like oh, Miss Walton it looks like a real community and I’m like yes, that’s what we’re trying to do. So it worked out, it was good.


Naomi Meredith  19:26

That was one of my favorites too. I love it because you and I are like teaching at the same time so that’s really cool to hear like your kids are loving it too.


Tiana Walton  19:35

They’re with this project so I can get like what my kids should be doing.


Naomi Meredith  19:40

Yeah if you go it changes. Like I did the clay the first time and mine was so sticky. I totally messed up and then kids were screaming and I had clay all over the floor, playdough and then they’re like, like flinging it in the air. It was all over their computers like, what is going on?


Tiana Walton  20:02

Oh, I was like, okay, stays on the table. We did not put clay anywhere else but the table. So my expectations were like I’m embedding these expectations in you. This is what we’re going to do. 


Naomi Meredith  20:13

Oh yeah. Well, and like with so many other projects, you like have to make up expectations along the way.


Tiana Walton  20:21

I’m like, Okay, I wasn’t expecting this. So next time I know, to say this expectation. So, yes. And it’s like a touch and go thing. I mean, now, I know next year when I do this for the second year, I’ll know okay, these were the expectations that are followed. This is what we need to continue to do for this project. So it’s been so much fun, right?


Naomi Meredith  20:40

I’m so glad. Yeah that community one was really cute, and a lot of kids start getting interested about, oh, maybe I want to be a civil engineer and design a city. Or maybe I want to be an architect, or they say, Oh, my mom’s an architect. So it’s really neat, like the conversations that they come up just from that project, or even others just thinking about just topics they might not realize they know. And I love the weirder the topic, the better. I love it. When I asked them, Oh, do you guys know what a Rube Goldberg machine? There’s like two kids, like raise your hand. And they’re like, oh, my gosh, you guys good thing, because my job is a teacher. And I get to teach you what a Rube Goldberg is, and then how it’s all going to connect together. So it’s just really cool. Like the more obscure the better.


Tiana Walton  21:30

Kindergartners were so excited to do that Rube Goldberg machine like they were like getting their work done in class so they can come to class. And I’m like, Okay, I’ve literally had every single one of you today. Let’s start. Like Miss Walton. We work so hard to get our work done. We want it to do this. And I’m like, Oh my gosh. And I mean, it was amazing. We used dominoes and the wooden blocks, and they use marbles to push their stuff. I mean, they were so invested. And they were like, We never knew what this was. That’s what this is. We watch your videos over this. And I’m like, Yes, exactly.


Naomi Meredith  22:05

So like there’s one thing.


Tiana Walton  22:07

Yes. Then putting the name to what they’re actually watching and not knowing what it was. It was so funny. I was like, Yeah, y’all probably watch these all the time. And they’re like, Yeah, we watched this guy on a skateboard do it one day. I’m like, Oh my gosh, how convenient.


Naomi Meredith  22:20

Oh, yeah, I had one kid. And I don’t know why I didn’t think of this. He’s like, that’s like in home alone. He has a Rube Goldberg machine.


Tiana Walton  22:28

this thing about that? Made me there.


Naomi Meredith  22:31

And so there’s one clip of him setting it up. I don’t think you can play it in school where it’s like actually hurting the people. But there’s one clip on YouTube. So the kids setting it all up and they’re all They’re all gasping there’s like feathers and there’s nails and then ice like it’s super dangerous. What do you think?


Tiana Walton  22:51

And he’s like setting this up for to catch robbers. Yeah, I’m


Naomi Meredith  22:55

like, well, that’s kind of dangerous. But yeah, they told me about like, Oh, you’re right. That’s yeah, that’s true. So you’ll have to look at


Tiana Walton  23:01

The bowling ball coming down from the thing? 


Tiana Walton  23:04

Yes.


Naomi Meredith  23:06

Like, yeah, he’s pretty smart. I’m like, we’re not going to do any of this in our design. But it’s fun to watch.


Tiana Walton  23:14

Simple on the table. Yeah.


Naomi Meredith  23:18

Well, if there’s anyone in a similar position like you would there, is there anything that you would recommend to them? Or any advice getting started? You’re super energetic, and I think you’re perfect for your position. It’s by anyone who’s starting out like you, what would you recommend or give advice,


Tiana Walton  23:36

I would say definitely resources, looking for just like you’re looking for curriculum that you think is best fit for your students getting to know their curriculum before you teach it, asking people around you for help. Because that takes a village. Literally, I think just looking into everything and preparing for what you’re about to step into is one of the biggest things I could say you need to do because STEM is not reading and math. It’s not just one particular thing. It’s everything. It’s building different things and learning what your kids are learning and you’re doing it together. So it’s I’ve loved it and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. And I think having your resource, having rgt teacher here and having my admin the other teachers, just science teachers they know exactly different kinds of projects and what STEM is so it’s been great having a village to help me get through this year.


Naomi Meredith  24:40

That is really great advice. That is so helpful. I hope you guys all go back and rewind that because that was so good. Well, thank you so much Tiana for being here. I’m so glad we got to chat. Since we’ve been messaging each other Um, is there a way that teachers can find and connect With the link in in the show notes.


Tiana Walton  25:01

Um, yes, you can find me on Instagram. I’m strictly on Instagram now. My user name is t.seymone. It’ll be in her link as she said, feel free to follow me. I’m transitioning my Instagram into my teacher resource so that you’ll get to see all the other things that I get to do in class. It’s been great being on the show. Thank you so much for having me.


Naomi Meredith  25:26

Yes, thank you so much, and I’ll chat with you soon.

 

 

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

 

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

 

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a K-5 STEM educator and business owner in Colorado supporting elementary teachers world-wide navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there. She has over a decade of experience teaching, 5 years teaching elementary STEM, along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM Certificate.

She offers a variety of resources to help teachers feel successful teaching STEM to their elementary students through lesson plans, online courses, coaching and speaking events.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM, innovation and hands-on learning in their classrooms effectively. She can’t wait to connect with you and be your guide!

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

Are you tired of scrolling online for your next great STEM lesson? Do you feel like there is no time to plan, research and test meaningful STEM lessons, so you throw together a hands-on activity and hope that it works? What systems and routines should you set in place to help students be creative, critically think, and collaborate? 

The Elementary STEM Coach is a podcast for K-5 STEM teachers, classroom teachers, GT specialists, and homeschool parents looking for actionable STEM solutions. Each week, Naomi Meredith will share tools, resources and lesson ideas that are actionable in your classroom and create highly engaging experiences with your students. You’ll learn systems and routines that will create control in the chaos and that will keep you organized all year long. 

Your mindless scrolling days are over! Your new STEM-best friend is now here in your ear buds!

stem teacher do

What Does a K-6 STEM Teacher Do? with Kristin Kinner [ep.52]

What Does a K-6 STEM Teacher Do? with Kristin Kinner [ep.52]

Check out the full episode on What Does a K-6 STEM Teacher Do? with Kristin Kinner:  

 

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Have a STEM question? Leave a voice message for the podcast!

Episode Summary

In today’s episode, I interview Kristin Kenner, who is a K-6th grade STEM teacher who taught in a regular classroom for over 25 years. I know many of you will relate to Kristin’s experience since many of you were also in the classroom before your STEM role. Kristin and I were talking over the summer before her role in STEM, and she was super nervous and asking for advice.

I knew that the experience she already had would be so helpful in her STEM role. In this episode, Kristin shares her journey as a classroom teacher turned STEM teacher, how she’s received grants to purchase materials for her STEM classroom, lessons from my TpT shop that Kristin has implemented in her classroom, and much more!

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • Kristin’s journey as a first-year STEM teacher
  • How she used grants to fund materials for her STEM classroom
  • Her process for getting approved for grants
  • STEM lessons from Naomi’s TpT shop that Kristin’s students enjoy

Meet Kristin Kinner:

Kristin Kinner is an elementary STEM teacher in her first year in STEM. She has taught for over 25 years in first, second, and fourth grades and has been a learning specialist and reading specialist in K-12. She currently inspires over 725 students to follow their passions in K-6 STEM. Kristin loves meeting and collaborating with other innovative educators and exploring new learning with her students.

Connect with Kristin:

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith  00:00

In today’s episode, I am interviewing Kristin Kinner who is a K through five STEM teacher who taught in the regular classroom for over 25 years. I thought her experience was super relatable to many of you who are listening. Most of you were also in the classroom before this role, and I thought that this would be a perfect fit for a guest on this show. Kristin and I have connected over the years through different ways and platforms. More recently, the InnEdCO Conference, which is a local conference in Colorado that is all about innovation. So definitely recommend it if you want to take a trip to Colorado or you live in the area. It’s a really awesome conference. We were talking over the summer before her role in STEM, and she was super nervous and asking for advice. I knew that her experience that she already had would be so helpful in her STEM role, and you’re going to hear the passion in her voice. She loves teaching K through six STEM, and I’m sure a lot of you can relate to her story. Before teaching in K through six STEM she taught in first, second, and fourth grades, and was also a learning specialist and reading specialist in Kindergarten. She teaches over 725 students, which is a lot of kids. Kristin loves meeting and collaborating with other innovative educators and exploring new learning with her students. I am so excited for you to listen to this interview. She is so much fun, and I can’t wait for you to listen. 


Naomi Meredith  02:04

All right, Kristin. Well, thank you so much for being here today. I was so excited you said yes to me. We were emailing back and forth and like, “Hey, do you want to be on the podcast?” So I’m so glad you said yes to me because I think your experience and your background and teaching is super valuable. I think that your story of where you’ve been in education and how you got to STEM can really resonate with a lot of teachers here on the podcast. Because like me, and I’m pretty sure like you, we just kind of got thrown into it with a passion that we had. So if you wouldn’t mind telling us more about yourself and your teaching background and how you became a STEM teacher.


Kristin Kinner  02:41

Well, Hi, Naomi. Thank you so much for having me on your podcast. As you know, I’m an elementary to STEM teacher. This is my first year in STEM. I’ve taught for over 25 years in first, second, and fourth grades mostly. I’ve been a learning specialist and a reading specialist, so I have a background in special education. Currently I inspire over 725 students to follow their passion in STEM. I love meeting and collaborating with other innovative educators and just exploring new learning with my students.


Naomi Meredith  03:16

You have a lot of kids? 


Kristin Kinner  03:18

Yes. 


Naomi Meredith  03:20

Wait, did you say sixth grade you have or is it just K through five?


Kristin Kinner  03:24

It’s K through six, and then we have a discovery program at my school, which has four self contained GT classrooms. So I have those classes as well. So I teach teach eight classes a day. 


Naomi Meredith  03:40

Wait, how does your schedule work with eight classes? I thought six was a lot. I have six. How does your schedule work?


Kristin Kinner  03:47

So I start in the morning and I teach sixth, fifth and fourth. Then I have lunch and we have two buildings. So then I take my stuff over to the primary building and I teach K-3. Then I teach the discovery class at the very end. Yeah, it’s busy.


Naomi Meredith  04:06

Do you have two separate classrooms then, or are you teaching in their classrooms?


Kristin Kinner  04:11

I do. I have two separate rooms. I have an innovative lab at the intermediate building and I have a STEM lab that’s particularly primary in a primary building.


Naomi Meredith  04:22

I did not know this. I need to go visit your school. I did not know you did that. That’s a lot.


Kristin Kinner  04:33

It’s a lot of fun though. And it keeps me moving and motivated.


Naomi Meredith  04:37

So what has been your favorite part about teaching STEM? Because you you have so much background in teaching and you’re, I mean, I don’t know when you can retire by but you could be like “Hey, see ya,” but now look at you. You’re in STEM. So what have been your favorite parts about it so far?


Kristin Kinner  04:52

I really love robotics. So we’re doing a lot of robotics right now. Bee bots are being used with Kindergarten and first grade. Then I’ve got Dash robots for second, third and fourth. Then we’re going to get into using the Vex Go Systems with fifth and sixth grade as the year progresses. Yeah, so it should be fun.


Naomi Meredith  05:16

Yeah. Have you even opened up those Vex Go Sustems? Yeah, I haven’t used those, but I’ve heard really good things about them.


Kristin Kinner  05:22

I have opened them up. I haven’t done a lot with them. I’m gonna do some exploring over Christmas break to see what we can find.


Naomi Meredith  05:34

Yeah, cuz are those the kits where they actually build the robot? Or am I thinking of something else?


Kristin Kinner  05:39

Yeah, they will actually build the robot. Yes.


Naomi Meredith  05:44

That is so cool. Wow. So you have that many classes a day. So you love robotics? Has there been anything that like surprised you? Because I know coming from the classroom is a lot. You and I were talking at the InnEdCO conference, and you’re so sweet. Like, I’m so nervous. I don’t know where it to start. I’m like, “Well, you’ve been a teacher for a long time. I think it’ll be okay.” But has there been anything that has surprised you where you’re like, “Whoa, I did not expect this?”


Kristin Kinner  06:16

No, I think the hardest thing is going from teaching primary for so long to working with some of the older students. But a lot of the things that we’ve done, I tried to plan something that kind of fits with each grade level. So sixth grade, we use the global goals. They created PSAs to kind of talk about what they might do to work toward a global goal. Fifth grade, we have hydroponic gardens. So they are doing a whole hydroponic gardening unit, that’s just for their grade. With fourth grade, I’m working with otter cares and doing Project HEART, which is a service or a philanthropy unit. So they’re going to be creating some service projects that we carry out through STEM, just to keep some things going for each of them.


Naomi Meredith  07:08

Yeah, so how often do you see the kids then? Because those sound like really big projects? I haven’t heard of global goal or otter cares. Do you do these projects in five days? Or is this something that would carry on for multiple rotations? How does that work with your timing?


Kristin Kinner  07:26

So I see each class for a full week, Monday through Friday, and we have a four week rotation. So we have four classes on each grade level. So I repeat my lessons four times with sixth grade, the global goals, or the 2030 sustainable goals. So like, no poverty, free freshwater, those kinds of things. All people have proper nutrition. They worked on researching, and that took, like, a week. Then the second week was putting together what they wanted to put on their public service announcement. Some of them did Google Slides, because they were familiar with that. But once we introduced the green screen and actually recording using iPads, they were able to record. A lot of them recorded, and had and made videos and stuff.


Naomi Meredith  08:22

So is this more like project based learning? Or do you use the Engineering Design Process or kind of both? Because that’s super interesting. I haven’t talked to anybody who’s done long term projects like this, that I’m so curious how you set that all up.


Kristin Kinner  08:38

I can share it with you. It was just basically I had like a doc that they filled in, and I shared through Google Classroom. That kind of was the framework for what I wanted them to find out, and for what I wanted them to share in their public service announcement, and they just went from there. They’re on my website, so you can see what some of the kids did.


Naomi Meredith  09:04

Oh, yeah, we’ll definitely have to link that. That is super interesting. It’s funny you say that. I’m with you on having a harder time with the older kids. I mean, I think your lessons are really good. But a lot of people are the opposite of you. A lot of people struggle with the little kids more than the older kids. So are there any strategies you would say for the little kids that people should try? Because a lot of people I get have a lot of questions about little kids.


Kristin Kinner  09:30

I tried to connect the younger ones to stories. So a lot of the k one might be more just build oriented and creating that way. This week, we did your lesson on 10 on the sled, so they had to decide what they wanted to build for their sleds and came up with some really cute ideas. Those books are like kind of the vehicle to launch a lot of my lessons. First, second, and third, we did Tacky the Penguin. It was Tacky in the Winter Games. So they had to do a direct drawing of the penguin. Then they had some clothing that they had to either design or there was a copy page they could color them in. But I took it a step further with the second and third graders. They had to create a coding path for Dash Robot to dress Tacky, say to put the pieces all around the coding mat and collect them using the robot. So kind of integrating a few different things.


Naomi Meredith  10:40

 Oh, that’s a great way to start. I know I’ve talked about this in past episodes, like if you can integrate books, that is the best way to get started, or are just busy times of year engaging younger students, and even for sub plans. I don’t know if you’ve left books for subs, that’s something I definitely have done. It’s super, like everybody loves reading. But a lot of us in elementary love reading books anyway, we have a lot of our favorites. So you might as well integrate that. Do you ever do like STEM stations with the little kids or other types of projects?


Kristin Kinner  11:15

Yes, I do. I have some trays that are set up just for that purpose. So I have like six different trays. So when projects are finished, there’s different things that they can go to. If I’m ever out, I usually leave STEM stations for a set, because the directions are there on the card, and the materials are ready to go. So I just put them on the table and read the directions and have the kids go like four to a table. Then you rotate after 15 minutes, and it keeps it easy for the sub and it keeps the kids engaged.


Naomi Meredith  11:51

Yeah, what types of things are on the trays? I’m trying to visualize these trays, I’m so curious.


Kristin Kinner  11:58

One is just a whole collection of pipe cleaners. They have to make a net to collect a ball, which is like a paper ball. One, I have Legos set up in this large tray that my daughter made. She’s a student at CU. I put LEGO platforms in there. They’re building a whole hockey station in there. So kids can work on it continually. Then others can add to it. One of them is using Keva blocks to build a bridge. So there’s different supplies. I just take out the container and put them on tables and explain what’s what. Tthen they’re easy to pack up to.


Naomi Meredith  12:39

Oh, yeah, I love that organization. I’m thinking too like, what about the space, but you said you had two buildings you go to? So that’s nice too where you have, oh, here’s more of the primary supplies in the secondary because having those, you need a lot of stuff. I feel like for the little kids, I don’t know, that’s something that I have found. When I came into my classroom, I didn’t have any of that building stuff. So I asked classroom teachers if they have any extra math manipulatives. I used most of my budget that year on just simple building supplies that you mentioned. But I know that you had to gather, well, I mean, you had to gather a lot of supplies for two rooms. How did you get all the supplies for your classroom? Because that’s a lot of stuff you need.


Kristin Kinner  13:21

So I was very lucky to step into a well equipped, innovative lab and that was at the intermediate building. So fourth, fifth and sixth. We had a lot of tools for the students to learn and a lot of the consumables. I just set up another room in the primary building, which was a little more challenging, but I write a lot of grants and get a lot of funding from different companies. So all robotics last year, we’re funded through different brands. Yeah.


Naomi Meredith  13:53

Wait, so do you write directly to the companies? This isn’t Donors Choose? How do you do this? This is amazing.


Kristin Kinner  14:00

So there are some companies like one grant I got was through Toshiba America. It was $1,000, and I received funding for six Dash robots, and some other supplies for the robotics like chargers and stuff, so I can charge six of them at a time. Yeah. Then this year, I got a grant through Westera, and they funded the lights for my hydroponic gardens. Because like a true engineer, designer, I had gardens, but I didn’t have grow lights. So I was like, Oh, they’re not growing. I had to come up with a way to problem solve and come up with lights because nothing was growing. This whole project was flopping. So I wrote a grant and Westera and my principal both bought a set of lights for our gardens. So now they’re growing like there’s no tomorrow.


Naomi Meredith  15:01

Oh yeah, well, this is like kind of off topic, but it’s similar. So when my family moved out of Colorado, like you take stuff to Goodwill, so my mom’s like, take all this stuff to Goodwill. I’m like, okay, so she loaded all this stuff in my trunk. While I’m unloading it, all the people at Goodwill were laughing at me. Then I realized she put a bunch of grow lights and growing things in my trunk. So I really set somebody up for their home garden, whatever that may be like in Colorado, you guys can connect the dots. But yeah, you definitely need the lights for sure. Growing herbs, like legit herbs, my mom, like grew herbs on my counter, like, that’s it not illegal. But um, yeah, that’s a good point. So how did you find these grants? I’ve never heard of this. I’m thinking of Darrell. Darrell, if you’re listening, you’ve asked me about grants. So you need to listen to this part. How did you find these?


Kristin Kinner  15:53

I searched for educational grants, we can search by state. I found Toshiba that way. That was actually the second grant that I’d gotten from Toshiba. I’d got one a few years back. It was mostly for a collaboration station just for like furniture, and some other games and tools in my first grade class probably about six or seven years ago. I still have the table. But yeah, it’s just a nice way, especially if you need some of those, like, the Keva blocks. I have zoob tubes and extra Legos, if you need any of that stuff. Just a small grant, aside from Donors Choose, they will fund a few different things.


Naomi Meredith  16:35

Oh, yeah, that’s great advice because I know that can be really inhibiting in our position, like you have found where you need stuff. I mean, you can definitely teach them with having cardboard, and a Makerspace. But I feel like Makerspace is just one unit, which if that’s all you can afford, it’s better than nothing to be honest. But we really want to provide these experiences for kids and buying high quality materials that are going to last more than one time. So having the Bee Bots or Blue Bots are definitely worth your investment. More so than those Code and Go Mice do the same thing. They’re not very good. But that is so smart. I did not know you could do that. That’s really helpful for people. If you guys don’t know where to get started, I have a free guide for just a spreadsheet of different things that you can buy with different budgets. So that can help with your pricing and has a lot of the stuff that you mentioned Kristin with all of those really hands on materials, because you need you need all that cool stuff. I mean, it really helps like their imaginations and thinking of the world in new ways. So you said that the 10 on the sled was super fun with your kids? Has there been anything else of mine that you’ve used in your classroom that you’ve seen success with your kids?


Kristin Kinner  17:53

I’ve used a lot of your resources. 


Naomi Meredith  17:56

Oh, okay. I did not know this. 


Kristin Kinner  17:58

I did. Your marble maze, and the kids went bananas. They loved it. One kid made a really tiny one that was probably like four inches by four inches. They use cocktail straws around the edge. We even made marbles out of pieces of clay with one of the groups.


Naomi Meredith  18:18

Oh, yeah.


Kristin Kinner  18:21

Yeah, they did some amazing things. We did your spider pulley in October and they got to keep the spider ring.


Naomi Meredith  18:30

Oh, look at you go. I don’t. I take them back. I think I said that on my episode too. I’m like, I don’t let them keep them. Well, you are the nice STEM teacher, and I’m like give them back.


Kristin Kinner  18:40

That’s because I ordered a bag of about 500 of them. I’m not gonna get rid of these in just a year. What else did we do? Oh, I used your cardboard maker tree. We created a wish tree. We did a wish tree for all the specials teachers. We put little ornaments on them, and we asked for some donations like markers, glue sticks, masking tape and scotch tape because I do not have a lot of those at all.


Naomi Meredith  19:11

Yeah, I run out of masking tape like it’s water. Yeah, I ran into that so is such a cute idea. Have you gotten any donations? We are recording this in December. Have you gotten anything yet?


Kristin Kinner  19:23

I have I got some markers, and I think there’s a few more that’ll be coming in through the week. But just very excited.


Naomi Meredith  19:32

Oh I love that and you could definitely do that. You can make it like a palm tree I don’t know for summertime or if you have parent teacher conferences. What a cute idea on how to use that one. I didn’t even think of that.


Kristin Kinner  19:47

We did you’re all about me brick build. I did it with six during the first week of school and they loved that. They keep asking for more Legos and I think just picking the colors and giving them a little, you know, they could pick what they wanted. But I don’t know, it was kind of cool. It really worked out well. I used your Rube Goldberg lesson to show how matter travels through the ecosystem. 


Naomi Meredith  20:12

Oh, how did that one go? I’m always curious to see how that one goes in classrooms.


Kristin Kinner  20:17

So that was with fifth grade, and it was toward the beginning of the year. They kind of wanted to get it really involved with different animals. I was like, you only need three, have three, one to try to three. Like and if you want more than that, once you get to three, let’s add on. But they enjoyed that. We saw some videos about different Rube Goldberg systems. There are some cool ones out there and gave them some inspiration. Then they created some amazing things. Yeah, I use a lot of your stuff. 


Naomi Meredith  20:49

Oh, you’re so sweet. You sent me pictures of the posters. I didn’t know like, I don’t know. I’m like, Hey, I’m doing this in my own classroom. But the Rube Goldberg one is so fun. I don’t know if you showed this. But kids like that’s in Home Alone. I’m all Oh, yeah. Is it? Right? Yeah, like go watch it on Disney plus, like, it’s just a good movie. I’m like, also a little sad. He’s by himself. When we showed the part the part I could find on YouTube, where he was setting up the trap where it’s actually really dangerous if you rewatch it, but then we didn’t watch it actually go it like being launched, like hurting the robbers. I don’t know if we can show that at school. But he’s like pouring water on the steps. Then he has like, the fan with the feathers are like, Oh my gosh, but yeah, we were showing that when I did that with fifth grade, too. They were talking about him like, oh, yeah, let’s watch that part. So super fun. I don’t know if you had this happen. A lot of the kids didn’t know what a Rube Goldberg machine was. But they kind of knew the concept. Did you see that too? When you were teaching it.


Naomi Meredith  20:49

A little bit. But again, I shared videos to kind of say this is who Rube Goldberg was, this is why it was famous, and this is what we’re doing to try to find a difficult way to solve an easy problem was kind of how. 


Naomi Meredith  22:15

Yeah, totally. Again, it’s so fun. I have told kids like you should make them at home over break and send me videos. It’s a great at home activity on a cold day.


Kristin Kinner  22:30

It’s a good idea.


Naomi Meredith  22:32

Oh, yeah, I’m not patient enough for that. But I would love to see the kids videos.


Kristin Kinner  22:38

I would bet they do it too.


Naomi Meredith  22:40

Oh, yeah, I think so. So if there’s anyone else, I didn’t send you this question before so I’m getting you on the fly. But if there is a teacher, and who is thinking about a similar role as you, they’ve been teaching for a while, do you have any advice for them? Because I know you love your position. You’re just so sweet and modest about it. But I know you love it. 


Kristin Kinner  23:04

I do love it.


Naomi Meredith  23:05

Yeah, I know you. So what would you say to someone who is like you even six months ago, what would you say?


Kristin Kinner  23:13

I would say try them out in your classroom, like have your current kids pick a day, maybe it’s like, fun Friday, but pick a day and have like different challenges where the kids are trying them out because you know your audience and you can tell them, hey, I want you to test the sound I try. I want to try something new with you. I used to do that with my first graders all the time. Now I have all those first graders because they were in my class over the past five years. So now they’re in second through sixth. So I’ve got like robotics experts in the classroom, and I’ve got kids in every room that kind of know, what are some things that we did together. So they can now be the experts and lead others. That’s kind of what you want to do. You want to find what they’re good at, and you want them to feel like “Hey, I know this stuff.” So I’m gonna help you out and feel good about what they’re doing.


Naomi Meredith  24:08

I think that’s such good advice. I think that’s so good because it is a lot teaching all the kids in the school. But I know like some teachers who listen to this are interested in STEM who are a classroom teacher, they don’t know where to get started, or maybe they only teach a few grade levels. So I think that’s really good to hear because it can be a lot at first. Like it is, it’s a lot and even for me still starting new units it can be like super overwhelming sometimes but I think that’s really good just to jump in. You’re showing them to you have a growth mindset, and that’s like really important in STEM like you’re demonstrating what a growth mindset is because I think sometimes as teachers we don’t always do that. But I think that’s really good advice to give them. So you mentioned you had a website, are there any other? So how can teachers connect with you and get in touch if they have more questions?


Kristin Kinner  25:07

So I am on Twitter @kinnerswinners and I have a WordPress blog, but it’s been a while since I’ve added it’s called Innovationinfirst.wordpress.com. Then I’m trying to get better at Instagram, and that’s where I’m k_kinnerteaches


Naomi Meredith  25:34

Yeah, I think they’ll love that and definitely reach out. I think you have a lot of great nuggets that teachers can connect with and reach out to you and just fill up their STEM network. So I appreciate your time. Thank you for using my lessons. I had no idea that I never know I don’t know who gets the things all the time. So it’s just pretty cool, like hearing what you’re doing in your classroom and how you’re inspiring kids. I can’t wait to talk to you at the end of the school year and just like how it all worked out for you.


Kristin Kinner  26:06

Oh, you’re awesome. Yeah, your lessons are amazing. They’re pretty clear, pretty straightforward and really easy to follow. So that’s what I really liked about them.


Naomi Meredith  26:16

Good. Well, thank you. Well, thank you so much for being here. I appreciate you.


Kristin Kinner  26:21

Anytime! I will see you soon.

 

 

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

 

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

 

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a K-5 STEM educator and business owner in Colorado supporting elementary teachers world-wide navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there. She has over a decade of experience teaching, 5 years teaching elementary STEM, along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM Certificate.

She offers a variety of resources to help teachers feel successful teaching STEM to their elementary students through lesson plans, online courses, coaching and speaking events.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM, innovation and hands-on learning in their classrooms effectively. She can’t wait to connect with you and be your guide!

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

Are you tired of scrolling online for your next great STEM lesson? Do you feel like there is no time to plan, research and test meaningful STEM lessons, so you throw together a hands-on activity and hope that it works? What systems and routines should you set in place to help students be creative, critically think, and collaborate? 

The Elementary STEM Coach is a podcast for K-5 STEM teachers, classroom teachers, GT specialists, and homeschool parents looking for actionable STEM solutions. Each week, Naomi Meredith will share tools, resources and lesson ideas that are actionable in your classroom and create highly engaging experiences with your students. You’ll learn systems and routines that will create control in the chaos and that will keep you organized all year long. 

Your mindless scrolling days are over! Your new STEM-best friend is now here in your ear buds!

stem-coach-do

What Does a STEM Coach Do? with Becca McMillan [ep.40]

What Does a STEM Coach Do? with Becca McMillan [ep.40]

Check out the full episode on What does a STEM Coach Do? with Becca McMillan:  

 

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Have a STEM question? Leave a voice message for the podcast!

Episode Summary

Do you teach STEM, but you are exclusively in a co-teaching or coaching role?

Or, if you are a classroom teacher and you are looking for ways you can co-teach and plan with an instructional coach in your building, this episode is for you.

In today’s episode, I interview my longtime friend Becca McMillan. Becca gives us insight into what a STEM coach does, tips for co-teaching, and lesson plan ideas. 

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • What a STEM coach does
  • Co-teaching tips
  • STEM lesson ideas

Meet Becca McMillan:

Becca McMillan is a STEM Teacher and Coach at a Title 1 elementary school in Colorado. After teaching in the classroom for 9 years in all different grade levels, she took on this role as a new passion and challenge. For the past 4 years, Becca has taught K-5 STEM and also coaches teachers to integrate STEM into their classroom curriculum. She is in a unique, flexible role that allows her to meet the needs of her school community. Becca plans and co-teaches with teachers, which allows STEM to be applied in all content areas rather than being an isolated subject.  Becca believes that STEM education is more than just Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, it is a mindset that provides engaging, real-world problem-solving experiences for students.

Connect with Becca McMillan:

Instagram: @beccaroniandcheese22

Email: becca.mcmillan22@gmail.com

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith  00:00

Do you teach STEM, but you are exclusively in a co-teaching or coaching role? Well, part of my role in the past included co-teaching along with teaching K through five STEM specials. My longtime friend Becca has more extensive experience when it comes to this role. Becca co-teaches, plans, and coaches exclusively in our building for K through five STEM. You are going to take a lot of valuable information away from this episode when it comes to her role and lesson plan ideas. If you are a classroom teacher and you are looking for ways you can co-teach and plan with an instructional coach in your building, she has some great takeaways for you as well. 


Naomi Meredith  00:40

Becca McMillan is the STEM teacher and coach at a title I elementary school in Colorado. After teaching in the classroom for nine years in all different grade levels. She took on this role as a new passion and challenge. For the past four years, Becca has taught K through five STEM and also coaches teachers to integrate STEM into their classroom curriculum. She is in a unique flexible role that allows her to meet the needs of her school community. Becca plans and co-teaches with teachers, which allows STEM to be applied in all content areas rather than just being an isolated subject. Becca believes that STEM education is more than just science, technology, engineering, and math. It is a mindset that provides engaging real-world problem-solving experiences for students. I’m excited for you to listen to this episode. I adore Becca with all my heart, and I am so glad that you get to hear from her and all of her amazing experiences. 


Naomi Meredith  01:37

Well, thank you, Becca, so much for being here. today. We are on take two, we actually recorded this podcast a while back, and then half of it, they record, so it’s gonna be even better the second time. I’m so excited about this. I’ve known Becca for a long time. I don’t know how long, maybe eight years. Sounds right. Yeah, we kind of knew about each other before we even met. So I worked with a girl at my first school who was getting her Master’s at the same time you were getting your Master’s and so you two connected. Then I ended up applying to the school you were working at to teach. I really wanted to teach Kindergarten, and I ended up getting the third grade. But I got the interview. Then my friend put two and two together. Then you had heard about me before, so then you talked to the principal at the time, and then I ended up getting a job. So I like I remember I made you a plan book. You know, we like emailed or something, and I made a plan book, and I gave you something else, but then we were friends ever since. 


Becca McMillan  03:10

The rest is history.


Naomi Meredith  03:11

The rest is history, in the classroom out of the classroom, and we’ve been taught together. So I am so excited to have you because you have such a unique role. Even though we teach in the same district. Your role is so unique and so cool. So I think other people really resonate with what you do because I know not everybody has their own STEM classroom, they do more of what you do. So if you wouldn’t mind telling us about yourself, your teaching background, and then how you stepped into your unique role in K through five STEM. 


Becca McMillan  03:43

Yeah, so this is my 13th year in education. I’ve taught first, second, third, and fifth in the classroom as an elementary teacher. I did that for nine years. Then this opportunity for this STEM position became available at the school that I moved to after I taught with Naomi at the school where I’m currently at. We had a technology class as part of our specials rotation, and that technology teacher was retiring, and my principal wanted to kind of add more of a STEM aspect to our school, so she transformed the technology position into a STEM position, but we also had lower enrollment, so we didn’t need for specials. So my principal’s goal was to have kind of a STEM teacher/coach role that could be flexible to make STEM more integrated into all of the content areas of the grade levels. So not in the specials rotation but more flexible so that I was available to create projects with teams and with teachers as it became wanted and needed, and based on what kids wanted to learn and do. So yeah, my position is awesome. I feel really lucky, like you said that it’s very unique in the district, which comes with its challenges, but it is also amazing. I love that at our school STEM isn’t necessarily an isolated subject, it’s integrated, and the kids get to do things with the content that they’re learning in real-life problem-solving in a hands-on way. So it’s really fun to get to work with all of the teachers and all of the kids in the school to kind of bring us together, I guess.


Naomi Meredith  05:43

And I love it, too. I know that from what you’ve told me, your principal is really supportive of STEM, which isn’t always the case with admin, so you have a really great admin because she really fights for your position. I know that you’re a valuable asset in this school, but it’s so cool too. We’ll talk about some of the lessons that you do with the kids. But like you said that they are integrated. I feel like the lessons you teach are more authentic because a lot of times, we’ll see lessons just even on social media that “Oh, we played with robots today, good job.” But really, what you’re doing is you’re really looking at the standards, you’re using that classroom experience. Then the lessons that you’re doing are real in your work in Title One, too. So you’ve gotten your kids to do some amazing things. We’ve talked about this with other guests on the podcast, like having them shine in really unique ways. So with your co-teaching and your role, how does that work out? When you’re implementing lessons with the teachers, do you have a set schedule? How do you set that all up with the teachers in your building? 


Becca McMillan  06:45

Yeah, so my schedule is hardly ever the same from day to day, which I love most of the time, because it keeps me on my toes. It’s all based on the needs and wants of the teachers and the kids. So sometimes it’s me knowing what content is coming up for teachers and suggesting trying something different, or sometimes it’s teachers coming to me and saying, “Hey, I have this unit coming up, and I’m wanting to make it more engaging for the students. What are some ideas you have for that?” Sometimes it’s let’s give some extra plan time to teachers who need it in a busy time of the year like parent-teacher conferences. So it’s nice to be able to be flexible based on what our school community needs and wants. So one of the things that have been helpful is if I’m doing a project with teachers, and they’re wanting to try something new, it’s helpful to have an extra adult in the classroom to make it feel less scary for the teacher and for the kids. I think it is important to create a safe space where kids and adults can take risks and try new things that maybe they wouldn’t have tried on their own. So sometimes, I’ll even help with a project. If there’s a new tool that we need to learn, a tool to review or say we are using the robots in a project, I’ll take the kids for an hour, give the teacher some time to breathe, and I’ll review the tool with them. Then the teacher and I will co-teach our content, which has been beneficial in many different ways for the teachers at my school and the kids. 


Naomi Meredith  08:37

That’s super smart, too, because since you don’t see them in a specialist rotation, they need a little bit of experience just using the tool just as a tool. So that’s really smart. Where you build that background, the expectation, so then the classroom teacher may not know those things. So then, when you come back, you’re like, “Hey, we are ready to jump right in. We’re ready to go.” I know you’ve done something too because you’re also the tech person like me where you manage the school-wide technology. You did something really cool at lunchtime with the boxlight touchscreen boards. What did you do to help teachers with that?


Becca McMillan  09:15

Yeah, we did a lunch and learn because, as we know, sometimes it is hard to find time for teachers to meet because there’s a lot happening. So we did this at the beginning of the school year during our teacher work week. We had an hour-long optional lunch and learn. We had just got the new box light interactive panels for all of our classroom teachers. This is something that they’re using every day, so I knew they would need some direct instruction with that. So Naomi and I actually took a training together, and then I took what I learned and did a little more research based on what I knew teachers would need and created just a lunch and learn experience with a note catcher. I’ve organized it so that it would be easy for teachers to look at the notes and remember what they needed to press or do to use the screen when I’m not there. So that was how we did that training. And yeah, teachers are doing awesome with those interactive panels. 


Naomi Meredith  10:23

Oh, and your slides are really good because I use them to help train my staff. They’re like, wait, go back to that slide. So it was just very simple. You took screenshots, had little arrows, and it was really helpful. You even help my building. Yeah, well, I know when I’m in professional development and I take notes, I oftentimes do not remember what I meant if I’m just writing down scribbled notes. So I wanted it to be notes that teachers could take away and use later when they had the time. Oh, definitely. So with that, back to the lessons that you teach, have you had any favorites that you’ve taught in this role? I’m sure it’s really hard to choose because you do a lot of cool stuff. But you mix it up to like, is there anything cool that you’ve done with your kids that you think other teachers would love hearing about? 


Becca McMillan  11:10

Yeah, definitely. Last year, my favorite project that I did with the fourth-grade team. Some of their new science standards are not necessarily new but new-ish. The Next Generation Science Standards talk about learning the internal and external structures of a living creature that helps it to survive. So we did a project where the students first learned about lots of living things and what their internal and external structures were. Then their kind of culminating project was to create an imaginary creature that had structures that helped it to survive. They went through the whole Engineering Design Process of imagining solutions and creating a plan. Next, we built, out of recyclable materials, their creature, and they also used our hummingbird robotics, which is really cool. They come in servos, or motors, and different things that kids can then code to make their recyclable creations come to life. Then we hosted a zoo for the school, so groups of kids could show off their creatures that they created and had their code ready to go so they could flap their wings or light up their eyeballs and explain how the creature protected itself and used its structures to survive.


Naomi Meredith  12:45

 I remember you showing me the videos there. It was cute. And now what I love is younger students ask like when are we going to do we get to do that in fourth grade, and we’re going to have our own Zoo. So that’s what I love. Was the coding part hard with that because I haven’t tried the hummingbird robotics? I think last time when we first recorded this, I was waiting to see if I got the grant, and I did. So I will get to try these out. Was that hard? Because we’re used to building stuff, but you took it to the next step where they’re actually building a robot. Was that a hard process for you?


Becca McMillan  14:18

It was. I remember taking a kit home of the robotics and when trying to build something and then doing my own code. I eventually figured it out. But it is hard to learn something new. So I was a little nervous going into the project, not knowing everything. But then what was so cool was I didn’t need to know everything, the kids, it’s kind of an innate thing. I think this generation figures it out. Before each day of creating, we would gather all the fourth graders in the library and have groups share what they learned about coding the hummingbird robotics, and then they would become the experts. So I remember one group figured out how to make their creature make noise. So then they were the experts to go help their kids if they wanted to do that with their creature.


Naomi Meredith  15:49

Oh, that’s so smart. You’re gonna have some teachers like, “Oh, you’re the one kid who knows all the tech stuff.” Like you had, it just very differentiated itself. Like, oh, you figure it out. Alright, go ask this kid like is more on the spot because you never know. Yeah, so that’s so good. I’m gonna have to steal some of those pictures and videos to put in the show notes for this because it’s hard to visualize what you’re talking about. But it’s super cool. Like, it’s really cool what they did with her. I know your little kids, they’re not there yet. What have you done with your little kids that’s been a cool project?


Becca McMillan  16:27

Yeah, something that is happening right now, which I am really excited about, is with one of our second-grade teachers. She was hoping to find more of an authentic audience for her kids with their writing, which one of our school-wide goals is to help kids grow in writing. Also, one of her personal goals is to use Seesaw in more authentic ways. So she reached out asking what my suggestions were. Something I had always wanted to try and never had was connect using the Seesaw blog with another classroom somewhere else outside of Colorado. It just so happened that the writing that they were doing at the time was descriptive essays about Colorado. So we were imagining that it would be really cool to connect with a class outside of Colorado. That’s an authentic audience of teaching them about where we live, and then hopefully, they would teach us about where they live. So I posted on the Seesaw ambassador Facebook group, just hoping to find someone that would want to connect, and the teacher that ended up reaching out was a teacher in Tanzania. So she is actually from Colorado, and moved out there and teaches third grade in Tanzania. So now the Seesaw blogs are connected, and they just happen to also be writing informational texts about Tanzania. It just worked out really cool. Kids read their descriptive essays in front of a green screen, and then they picked a Colorado background. So that was how they published their writing. Then we posted it on Seesaw for their pen pal to listen to, and they also did an introduction of themselves. So that’s been a fun way to integrate writing, technology, global citizenship, and building relationships. 


Naomi Meredith  18:32

Yeah, and that’s a real authentic audience because I talk about Seesaw all the time in this podcast. But we know on Seesaw, it’s usually their peers, their parents, and their teacher who can see it, which is really great. But it’s someone who’s their age across the world. I bet that would motivate kids who have a hard time staying motivated with writing and might not be their favorite, but they know that someone their age far, far away is going to hear it, and they have to produce something because they’re going to produce something for that. 


Becca McMillan  19:00

Exactly. They’re loving it. They’re learning about Tanzania, and now too, which I don’t think they ever would have before, and with kids their age that actually live there. 


Naomi Meredith  19:11

That is so cool. That is amazing. 


Becca McMillan  19:14

Making the world a smaller place. 


Naomi Meredith  19:16

Yeah, I love that. I know like you’re super connected in your school, too. I mean, it’s super cool that you’re in the classrooms all the time. I know your co-teacher, the PE teacher, and that you’ve even brought your whole school community altogether. Like even having that authentic audience. Tell me more about what you’ve been doing this school year. I talked you into it, but you’ve been loving it. 


Becca McMillan  19:40

So Naomi was my inspiration to start school-wide news broadcasts. Naomi is doing the same at her school. So we have a performing arts teacher this year instead of a music teacher, which has been really cool for our school as well, and she was on board with starting the news broadcast as well because that’s in her wheelhouse. So it was nice to go into it having a partner to do that with. We’ve become this team where she organizes the kids to record the news, and then I edit with some help from the kids. We’re slowly putting more responsibility on the kids to do all of the recording jobs and the editing jobs. What I love is that it is really bringing our school community together. We started out recording teachers to do the news, and then hilarious just seeing the younger kids now, the older kids, the teachers, and vice versa. We were having teachers do book recommendations, and I’ve seen multiple times kids who aren’t in that grade level go to that teacher and ask to borrow their book. So that’s been really heartwarming. We’ve come up with some quirky segments we just started, would you rather Wednesday, and two of our fifth-grade teachers are hilarious and give us all kinds of bloopers. But they did our first would you rather Wednesday, and it’s just an authentic way of also getting kids to talk about their opinions, kind of a little debate, which is only going to help their writing as well and bring their classes together to talk about those topics. Yeah, it’s been fun. Kids are begging to be on the news there. So it’s just been strengthening our school community even more. It’s been really fun to be on the other side of it and connect people in that way too. 


Naomi Meredith  21:46

Oh, totally, it’s one of the most favorite clubs I’ve ever done. I’ve done clubs my first year teaching, and it’s like one of those things. You’re building the airplane while it’s flying. I started last year. Like when I was telling you like, Well, we tried this, and then this, when you probably see the same thing. I have to do a whole podcast episode about how to set it up. But yeah, it’s pre-recorded, not live. You do pre-recorded also, which I highly recommend just thinking about your time. I feel like when you do things live, it’s just something’s bound to not work. But it’s so much fun. It’s such a cool thing too, and your role. It’s almost like having your own class again, have you felt that way?


Becca McMillan  22:27

Yeah, because now I have my editing kids, they come down at their lunch and recess time on certain days. Even if I have a class in the Makerspace or I’m doing a project, they still know where to find me. They can sit and do their editing work while I am doing what I need to do. So that’s been a nice way of building independence for them, too, in our little crew. They’re really proud to be on that editing crew and the same with the kids who report the news as well.


Naomi Meredith  22:59

Oh, yeah, it’s living their YouTube dreams. Even though it’s not on YouTube, they’re living it out. So I know that I mean, with any role, it’s not all perfect and beautiful. Everything has its challenges. Is there any advice that you would give to somebody who might be in a similar role to you? Anything that surprised you, since it can be a little bit scary working with teachers and then making connections with kids? What would you say to someone who’s doing something like you or wants to get started in that role? 


Becca McMillan  23:30

Yeah, I think with any big change, it’s important to just start small and grow from there when you’re doing anything new. I’ve leaned on Naomi a ton and other people that are in similar positions. I think that’s super important. Reach out to people who have similar mindsets that you can learn from and grow from, and then put your own twist on things and be inspired by other professionals. I would say that in a role like mine, it was really important to capitalize on teachers and students who were already ready to try new things and get on the STEM bandwagon and share the strengths and the successes that we’ve had to inspire other people to take those risks and try new things as well. That’s how it’s spread at my school. That would be my advice in a similar position. But with anything, it’s a big change or something new. I think that it’s important to start with the positive, and then it will spread like wildfire.


Naomi Meredith  24:37

Oh, I think so. I mean, you’re doing a great job. As I said, your principal wants to keep you and does everything she can to keep you around. So I know that you’re doing a great job, and as I said, I love seeing the pictures and videos you send me or text me. We always text all sorts of that stuff, but I love the STEM stuff especially because it’s just so exciting to see what you’re doing. You have a really cool role. So I think your advice is really good for people because it can be like, I don’t know, some teachers might not like to be told what to do, but you’re not someone who tells people what to do. You’re very good at collaborating and meeting them where they’re at. So I think you’re the perfect person for the role with your growth mindset and willingness to try new things all the time. So yeah, great advice. So if teachers wanted to connect with you, what would be the best way they could reach out if they have any questions? 


Becca McMillan  24:42

They can reach out to me on Instagram at beccaroniandcheese22. I’m happy to get any emails. You are welcome to email me. Yeah, I’m happy to connect.


Naomi Meredith  25:44

Perfect. Well, I’m sure you’ll be hearing from some people. I know they got a lot of good ideas from the lessons you talked about. I’ll grab some pictures from you, too, especially those hummingbirds. Those are super cool. Yeah. But thank you so much again for take two. It all worked out. I would have never known this is a second time. But I appreciate your time. I’ll have to have you come back and talk about some other things. I know there’s something else I want to ask you about in another episode.


Becca McMillan  26:10

That’d be great!


Naomi Meredith  26:13

Yes, please. Perfect. Well, thanks again, Becca.


Becca McMillan  26:16

Thank you for having me!

 

STEM coach do

STEM coach do

STEM coach do

 

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

 

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

 

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a K-5 STEM educator and business owner in Colorado supporting elementary teachers world-wide navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there. With over a decade of experience teaching, 5 years teaching elementary STEM, along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM Certificate, Naomi helps teachers world-wide to navigate best practices, strategies and tools out there.

She offers a variety of tools to help teachers feel successful teaching STEM to their elementary students through lesson plans, online courses, coaching and speaking events.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM, innovation and hands-on learning in their classrooms effectively. She can’t wait to connect with you and be your guide!

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

Are you tired of scrolling online for your next great STEM lesson? Do you feel like there is no time to plan, research and test meaningful STEM lessons, so you throw together a hands-on activity and hope that it works? What systems and routines should you set in place to help students be creative, critically think, and collaborate? 

The Elementary STEM Coach is a podcast for K-5 STEM teachers, classroom teachers, GT specialists, and homeschool parents looking for actionable STEM solutions. Each week, Naomi Meredith will share tools, resources and lesson ideas that are actionable in your classroom and create highly engaging experiences with your students. You’ll learn systems and routines that will create control in the chaos and that will keep you organized all year long. 

Your mindless scrolling days are over! Your new STEM-best friend is now here in your ear buds!

hour of code ideas

Hour of Code Ideas for Elementary STEM [ep.38]

Hour of Code Ideas for Elementary STEM [ep.38]

Check out the full episode on Hour of Code Ideas for Elementary STEM:  

 

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Have a STEM question? Leave a voice message for the podcast!

Episode Summary

Are you looking for Hour of Code ideas for elementary STEM?

There is an abundance of free resources available, but it can be overwhelming navigating them all and finding what will work best for your classroom.

In today’s episode, I break down how to navigate Hour of Code resources for K through five, review devices you can use and options for unplugged coding, and provide instructions on how you can set up the Hour of Code in your classroom. 

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • How to navigate the Hour of Code resource
  • Examples of device-based coding and unplugged coding and how to implement each
  • Tips for structuring your time with station rotations, whole group exploration, or a mixture of both
  • How to utilize extra resources on the Hour of Code

Resources Mentioned:

Some items are linked to my Amazon Affiliate account. When you purchase through my link, there is no added cost to you, but I receive a small commission in return.

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith  00:00

Looking for Hour of Code ideas for elementary STEM? While there is an abundance of free resources out there, it can be overwhelming navigating them all and finding what will work best for your classroom. In this episode, I will break down how to navigate the resources for K through five, what devices you can use or not use, and instructions on how you can set up the Hour of Code in your classroom. 


Naomi Meredith  00:55

Before we jump right into this episode, I have created a freebie for you to help capture all the learning that you’re going to have throughout this episode, and all of the resources and how to get that all organized for K through five STEM. So you can download that free resource at Naomimeredith.com/tpthourofcode. This will also be linked in the show notes, so you don’t have to memorize this. I love the Hour of Code. This is an excellent unit to implement into your K through five STEM classroom. Or, if you are a classroom teacher who’s interested in STEM, you can definitely jump right in because most of the resources I’m going to be talking about are absolutely free. To get me in the mood for this episode, I am wearing my create with code shirt that I got from Target a little while back. So it’s super fun. You all know by now I love a good theme. So, of course, I have a coding shirt or two in my closet that I pulled out during this time. I will say that the Hour of Code is one of the few units that I actually don’t write or create everything from scratch. This is because there are so many great resources out there that I personally know I don’t have as much experience as the people who are creating them. And it’s always changing. I want to make sure that my students are exposed to these materials. That is why I have that free guide for you that helps you sift through all that information. But again, these are things that I’m not always creating from scratch because there are so many coding languages out there, even for kids. I want to make sure, again, that kids have access to those. 


Naomi Meredith  02:32

Now, if you have never heard of the Hour of Code, that is okay. I am so glad that you are here! The Hour of Code started in 2013, and it was a way to get kids exposed to the world of coding at a young age. It was initially to be an hour in your school and to get kids pumped up and excited about computer science. It is also hosted in conjunction with computer science week, which they have its own website as well. The official Computer Science Week for 2022 is from December 5 through the 11th. and the Hour of Code is usually hosted around this time. But you can do coding at any time of the year. So don’t feel like you have to do it this week. The first time that I was exposed to the Hour of Code was in 2013, my first year teaching third grade as a classroom teacher. I remember it was just so amazing seeing my students code the Angry Birds to get the little piggies. I had never seen anything like this, and this was my first real exposure as a teacher to seeing children coding. In hindsight, this could have been one of the many sparks that I had to get me into K through five STEM now. But at the time, I thought it was so amazing, and I still think that it’s amazing to see kids being able to write a language using blocks to control what is happening on the screen. This was way more problem-solving than just clicking arrows and playing a video game passively. The students were collaborating and problem-solving. I loved the excitement that they had when they completed each of these challenges. 


Naomi Meredith  04:13

If you haven’t done the Hour of Code, either, you’re gonna see the same excitement in your students. It is just so much fun. Because there are so many different options out there where students can explore again, a lot of different coding languages that work best for their grade level. At the time, my students, they had the Hour of Code as an actual hour where we went into our computer lab, and they got to play around with the different coding languages that were available at the time. So you could still do this as a school-wide promotion. You could do this as a week-long STEM unit. You could start it in your STEM classroom and then keep promoting it within the classrooms or at home. There are so many different possibilities. So don’t feel like you have to limit yourself to one hour or one unit. There are just so many different ways that you can do coding and the Hour of Code throughout the year. 


Naomi Meredith  05:03

So first, let’s talk about navigating the Hour of Code website. This is going to be your hub for finding the different coding activities that will work best for your classroom. As I said, this can be overwhelming at first, and over the years, they have been making the navigation of the website so much easier. The first thing you’re going to want to do is to sign up to host your Hour of Code event. This is absolutely free. I feel like this is a way for them to keep track of how many kids are participating. They will also send you some free resources or things to get you excited leading up to the official Hour of Code week. So make sure you sign up, put in a little bit of information, and then you are on your way to navigating the Hour of Code website. You’re going to see that there are different types of coding activities that are organized by grade level, which are the main types of navigation. Over on this side, you can get even more specific with the types of coding activities you would like to have your students exposed to. Some of these categories that are listed are the types of devices that you have. There’s even an option if you have slow internet. You could filter out the activities that would work best for that on the devices. If you’re an iPad-only school or vice versa, a laptop-only school, you can click on that filter, and then you can search through the activities that way. If you don’t have access to devices at all, which we’re going to talk about this in a bit, or you would like to have a station that is screen-free or unplugged coding, you can search for those options. 


Naomi Meredith  06:41

But it gets even better with these filters. You can filter by the length of the lesson if you do want it to last an hour or if you do want it to last for over a week. You can search through the different accessibility options. Play around with those filters. As I said, it can be overwhelming at first. I actually don’t have students jump right into the Hour of Code website because they can get lost pretty easily. As a teacher, you want to pick through and play around with the things you think will work best developmentally. Then you can make a simple one-page choice board. I like to make mine in Google slides that are view only. Then there are clickable links for the students. Or you could just send the links along to students in whatever LMS system you like to use or even create QR codes that the kids can scan. Definitely try to play around with the devices that you have, and see what is going to work and not work. Then you can go from there. I like to share the website, the Hour of Code website, with students after we completed the unit, so they can play around and explore at home. But I always want them to jump right in and get to the task at hand. So that’s why creating those very specific links for students is helpful. This helps prevent decision fatigue. Then you know that those specific links are going to use on the devices or, if you’re not doing devices, the materials that you have students to use. 


Naomi Meredith  08:08

At the very top of the Hour of Code website, there’s also a promote tab, so play around with that. There are some posters that you can print that have some diverse and even some famous people on there. My fiance’s favorite is the Shakira poster. He loves Shakira. So he likes that Hour of Code posters on there. But there are some really cool posters and handouts that you can print and send home with families or teachers. There are some email templates, there’s even a sticker template that you can print out, and students can proudly wear a sticker saying that they participated in the Hour of Code. There are also some really awesome videos that you can show your students where they are talking about the Hour of Code and the importance of coding. Again, some famous faces are in a lot of these videos. These are really awesome resources to check out and really dive in to get kids excited about computer science and coding. I mentioned this a little bit ago, but you have the option when you’re doing any type of coding with kids, you can have device-based coding, which is what most of us are accustomed to when students are coding on the computer. Or you can do coding unplugged. Both have a lot of value. Even if your students have experience with computer coding, having the ability to code unplugged and being able to problem solve in that way can be very valuable. In fact, you are really working on computational thinking and having students be able to really think through those problems. They might not always have that instant gratification from what is on the screen, but it’s going to help them slow down and really think through if the information that they are moving or writing down is correct. You can even pair unplugged coding with device-based coding and have students write down some of the things that they’re hoping to do in the program, and then they can apply it to their learning. 


Naomi Meredith  10:08

Here are some of my favorite coding unplugged activities that can work for a variety of grade levels. One really fun one is to do binary beads. I’m pretty sure Hour of Code has a lesson related to this. You teach students about binary code, the language that computers use to talk with the zeros and the ones. Then there is a binary code alphabet. Students can have little pony beads, different colored beads to represent the different codes and the binary code chart, and then spell their name or a word that resonates with them. This is a really great one. Then students have a physical takeaway from the actual project.


Naomi Meredith  12:24

Another fun one that I did when I was teaching third grade for computer science training is we did cup coding. With this activity, there are different pictures of combinations of cups that are stacked in a lot of different combinations. The goal of this is you have a programmer, and then you have the robot. So the goal of the programmer is to write the code out using the language of this cup coding program. So up means to hold up the cup one cup length to a turn would be flipping the cup over at 90 degrees. A down would be putting the cup down at a cup length and so on. There’s a cup coding language for this activity. As the programmer, you are writing the code that will match the picture of what the robot needs to complete, then the robot has to read your code with the arrows and the turns. And hopefully, they are able to complete the picture without seeing the picture and only reading the code. Again, this is a great computational thinking lesson and a great problem solving challenge. 


Naomi Meredith  13:36

Another one that is very similar and really popular with younger students is to do human-robot coding. You can have different cards that have arrows that have different meanings, forwards and backward. You can add in a jump, or a spin, whatever you would like. I have this all created for you in my TPT shop. Again, you have a programmer and a robot, and the programmer writes the code using the cards, and then the human-robot actually has to perform the action. This is so much fun, and the kids like to have control of each other. But it really does get their body moving. It helps those younger students with directional coding and understanding left and right, and forwards and backward, which they can apply to a lot of the computer-based programs or even when you do robotic coding. 


Naomi Meredith  14:24

Another coding unplugged option that I like to do is having a paper grid or even a digital grid. There are different markers in the grid that students need to collect using a code. They can write down the code again using arrows, or you can have your own coding language written out, like block-based coding. Block-based coding is when you see the blocks with the words written inside, and then you drag the blocks over. Usually, read it from the top to the bottom, and the robot or the program will read it from top to bottom with those different blocks. So this is like the in-between of more complicated typing programs. Anyway, with this coding unplugged option, students can write the code using arrows, or they can write using their own language of block-based coding to collect the different tasks on the paper. Again, I have a lesson created for this already, it’s all about donuts. There is a lot of fun and different challenges within this that are all completely device free. You can have students complete it together. There’s even a fun one where students have to complete it like battleship. So that is a goodie, but an oldie, and it’s fun. It’s all donut themed. 


Naomi Meredith  15:33

When thinking about adding other devices to your Hour of Code time, a fun tool that you might have in your classroom, or you can invest in Makey Makey. These are really cool because they connect to the very popular program, scratch, and students can explore conductive and not conductive materials. Basically, how the Makey Makey works is you have different clamps with wired connections that go into this hub, and the hub is connected to the computer. On the computer, you have the coding program, Scratch, open, and then you play around with the Makey Makey options. Then you can connect the clamps that are connected to that hub to different things that are conductive. When those conductive things are touched, then it will trigger the code that is written for that actual connection. It sounds like a lot, but very simple when you see it in real life. Trust me, I saw something very similar in real life, and the STEM teacher in me got really excited. One year I went to Meow Wolf in New Mexico, and they have a part of the exhibit where it’s this big mammoth with ribs showing. When you touch the ribs, it makes a sound. Well, in my mind, I knew exactly what was happening when it came to the coding and the connections because of the Makey Makey. It’s like the raw version of it. So Hour of Code is a great time to implement those physical materials as well. 


Naomi Meredith  17:05

Another thing that is really fun to teach students during the Hour of Code is the difference between hardware and software, especially for those younger students, but older students will benefit too. Younger students really like to understand the difference between the two because there is a difference. With my younger students, I have created a paper tablet where they get to color and add in the different apps, the software. Then when they open up the tablet, there are different pieces of hardware, which is a very basic version. I knew that they would love it. They were literally obsessed with having their own paper tablet and just wanted to play with them. Definitely recommend a lesson like that talking about computer hardware and software because that’s also valuable when it comes to coding and understanding how our computers work in our world. 


Naomi Meredith  17:51

When it comes to structuring your time, I mentioned some different options of how you can get your school involved or even classroom teachers, or you might even be the classroom teacher who’s getting involved. When I first did our code, I had students three days a week. So I did station rotations and had a lot of different options when it came to coding unplugged and different websites that were appropriate for their grade level that I navigated from the Hour of Code website. Now I have students for five days. So again, I still like to implement those coding unplugged choices. But I also have the option where students are exploring different coding languages. They can try those out. I like to give them a variety, whether it is block-based coding or it is coding by typing or coding with arrows. I like to give them that choice and see what languages that they’re really connecting with. I also like to start off my lessons, whether it’s the station rotations or it is with whole group instruction, with different videos that are related to coding, which I’m going to talk about in a second because it’s good for students to hear the explanation where I’m at. I’m not the ultimate expert when it comes to coding. I am a great facilitator when it comes to elementary STEM coding, but by no means am I an expert on this. I realize that not all students are going to be computer programmers, but you never know who’s going to be. So I always want to expose kids to a lot of different things in general when it comes to my STEM class. So this is a really great time to do that. 


Naomi Meredith  19:23

Me personally, I do robotics as a whole separate unit. I don’t really do a whole lot of robotics during my Hour of Code unit because I want to dive deeper when it comes to robotics. So for me, I like to start with Hour of Code. I do typically teach this around December or January. Then my unit immediately after is my separate robotics unit. That way, students have a background when it comes to different coding languages. Then they can really play around with those languages when it comes to the robots that we’re using and see the output of what the robot’s task is going to be. That is a personal preference. But what has worked well in my STEM classroom, it’s definitely up to you. I know people also like to implement robots in their Hour of Code. So do what works best for you and the time that you have with the kids. As I said, in this Hour of Code unit, I don’t create a whole lot for it because there are so many great things out there. This even includes a ton of video resources that I love to show my students when it comes to computer science and coding, BrainPOP and BrainPOP Jr have a lot of great videos. They have added a lot more over the years. When it comes to learning about computational thinking, different ways to code, such as looping, or even parts of a computer and coding in general, definitely check those out. 


Naomi Meredith  20:44

In the free guide, I even break up which videos I like to use with each grade level so you’re not always repeating the same ones. You also know that I am a huge fan of SciShow Kids, which I talked about back in episode 17, where it’s all of those different resources I like to use for imagining. SciShow Kids also has some great videos when it comes to teaching about robots and the parts of a computer. If you want to dive in even deeper when it comes to coding, some of you might even be a technology teacher and not necessarily STEM. Code.org, separate from Hour of Code, has more extensive materials, actual units, and a progression of learning when it comes to coding in your classroom. This is also great to look into if you’re thinking about a different after-school opportunity. You don’t need to go and create anything because there are so many things on there that you can just plug and play, especially for those kids who really are getting obsessed with coding. Again, another great after-school activity with very minimal prep. One of my favorites for after-school activities is the Google CS first curriculum. There is a whole theme and a different challenge that they have to create. They’re always improving this curriculum and really making it self-guided, and kids can access the information at home. So definitely recommend checking out that resource. 


Naomi Meredith  22:03

As a recap, there is so much to do for Hour of code, but it is such a fun unit to implement. It should be your least stressful unit out of your entire year because most of it’s already done for you. You just have to go in, explore and check out the free guide that I have for you because that’s going to help you really wrap your head around all the different things that you can do during this time. We first talked about navigating that Hour of Code resource. So definitely play around with those filters that can help you with your experience. Then we talked about how you can have a mixture of device-based coding and coding unplugged or unplugged coding. Then also think about structuring your time if you want to do station rotations, a whole group exploring, or a mixture of both. Then really utilize those extra resources out there, especially when it comes to videos, where you can see coding that is relevant in their real lives. Again, make sure to check out the Hour of Code freebie that I have created for you to help you organize your time with your students. This will be linked in the show notes, and you can also grab it at Naomimeredith.com/tpthourofcode.

 

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

 

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

 

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a K-5 STEM educator and business owner in Colorado supporting elementary teachers world-wide navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there. With over a decade of experience teaching, 5 years teaching elementary STEM, along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM Certificate, Naomi helps teachers world-wide to navigate best practices, strategies and tools out there.

She offers a variety of tools to help teachers feel successful teaching STEM to their elementary students through lesson plans, online courses, coaching and speaking events.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM, innovation and hands-on learning in their classrooms effectively. She can’t wait to connect with you and be your guide!

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

Are you tired of scrolling online for your next great STEM lesson? Do you feel like there is no time to plan, research and test meaningful STEM lessons, so you throw together a hands-on activity and hope that it works? What systems and routines should you set in place to help students be creative, critically think, and collaborate? 

The Elementary STEM Coach is a podcast for K-5 STEM teachers, classroom teachers, GT specialists, and homeschool parents looking for actionable STEM solutions. Each week, Naomi Meredith will share tools, resources and lesson ideas that are actionable in your classroom and create highly engaging experiences with your students. You’ll learn systems and routines that will create control in the chaos and that will keep you organized all year long. 

Your mindless scrolling days are over! Your new STEM-best friend is now here in your ear buds!

November-stem-activities

4 November STEM Activities to Try [ep.37]

4 November STEM Activities to Try [ep.37]

Check out the full episode on 4 November STEM Activities to Try:  

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Have a STEM question? Leave a voice message for the podcast!

Episode Summary

Looking for easy November STEM activities to try?

In this episode, I will be sharing with you four ideas that you can implement in your classroom right away.  

There is a lot to celebrate during the month of November, so these STEM challenges that I’m going to be sharing with you aren’t tied to a specific holiday or celebration.

These fun ideas will help you harness the crazy energy during this month and put it into productive use with these STEM challenges.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • STEM & Stories: Great Turkey Race Activity
  • LEGO Corn Mazes
  • Engineer Inspiration Boards
  • People in STEM with a green screen twist

Resources Mentioned:

Some items are linked to my Amazon Affiliate account. When you purchase through my link, there is no added cost to you, but I receive a small commission in return.

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith  00:00

Looking for easy November STEM activities to try? In this episode, I will be sharing with you four ideas that you can implement in your classroom right away.  


Naomi Meredith  00:40

There is a lot to celebrate during the month of November, so these STEM challenges that I’m going to be sharing with you aren’t tied to a specific holiday or celebration. I tried to mix it up for you so that you could do this all month long or really any fall month. As I said, they’re not Thanksgiving specific or any holidays specific. So let’s jump into these fun ideas where you can harness the crazy energy during this month and put it into productive use with these STEM challenges. 


Naomi Meredith  01:15

The first STEM Challenge is STEM and Stories, which is one of my favorite things to do in the STEM classroom. It relates to the story, The Great Turkey Race. As a class, listen to the story or read the story out loud. You know that I love pre-recording read-alouds for my students. So if I know I’m going to be doing this book, a lot of times, I can have the video recording of me reading it, and then this gives me a little bit of extra time to set up any materials that I need for the lesson. Either way, you’re going to be using The Great Turkey Race, and spoiler alert, there are some turkeys who are going to get eaten, and they want to escape the farm. Your STEM challenge is going to be related to this story, and there are a couple of different things that you can build for this challenge. You can have students build both things that I’m going to mention or one or the other depending on the time you have and the age of your students. 


Naomi Meredith  02:14

First, you’ll have students create a simple catapult that will be used to launch the turkeys over the fence, which we’ll talk about the fence in a second. There are a lot of different ways that students can build catapults. One of my favorites that I will link in the show notes is a simple video that I created. There are popsicle sticks, rubber bands, and a plastic spoon. The way that we will create the catapult is students will wrap a rubber band around the popsicle sticks. I like to use the big fat ones since they give you more leverage within this challenge. They will wrap the rubber bands around the popsicle stick to hold the plastic spoon, and they will create basically the letter V. So, think about you have a popsicle stick with a spoon on one popsicle stick. Then there’s a bottom popsicle stick, and at the tip of the V, you’re going to wrap one more rubber band to connect the two, and this will create the letter V, which you will put a stack of popsicle sticks in between that are also secured with rubber bands that will be the fulcrum. This will allow the spoon to be able to be pushed down and eventually launch the turkeys over the fence. 


Naomi Meredith  03:25

What I like to use for turkeys are pom poms. You can even glue pictures of turkeys to bring the story to life. Of course, we have the fence that the turkeys are trying to get over, and students can build their fence using a lot of different materials. My favorite for this challenge is to use raw spaghetti and Crayola modeling clay, which doesn’t dry out. It’s super inexpensive, and students will use those two materials to design a fence that the catapult will launch the turkeys over. If you’re doing this challenge with younger students, the catapult might be a bit tricky. So you can have catapults pre-made before doing this challenge. The younger students may not be able to create the fences. One hack to this so that you’re not the one building all of the catapults. If you do this challenge the day before with older students, they could be the ones in charge of the catapults and then save them for the younger students. I don’t usually let the students keep the catapults after this challenge because I don’t want to be responsible for other objects that will be flying in the classroom. So if you aren’t going to save the catapults, I have students cut the rubber bands or untwist the rubber bands, and then we put all of the materials away. They are a little bit sad, but I tell them these are very simple materials to get at home. You can make it the same way or a different way, but we’re going to reuse the materials as much as possible. So this is definitely a fun STEM challenge that you can do within the month of November. 


Naomi Meredith  04:57

The second November STEM activity that you can try in your classroom is LEGO corn mazes. I don’t know about you, but have you been in a corn maze, especially a haunted corn maze? I have! This was maybe six or seven years ago, and I distinctly remember it was a haunted one, and I was there with some of my friends. My one girlfriend and I were holding tight to each other, and I was so scared. I said, “Becca, I was like, Becca, we’re gonna be okay, I’m so scared,” or something like that. In the haunted part, all the employees were saying, “Becca, Becca.” So we’re a little bit traumatized. After that experience. I haven’t been in a corn maze ever since. Luckily, for this challenge, it’s not as scary. Again, this only uses a few materials that you might already have in your classroom. 


Naomi Meredith  06:32

All you need are some big LEGO base plates and LEGO bricks and marbles or any small balls that are similar in size. There are some really great LEGO-like base plates on Amazon that work just as well as the original version. Definitely recommend taking a peek at those, and I’ll link those in the show notes for you. I don’t recommend using non-LEGO brand Legos since those don’t have the same effect. They just don’t hit the same way. So students will create their own LEGO corn maze. You can even print out different things that the marble can roll to, like a scarecrow, pumpkins, just different little images that they can attach to their designs. This is fine because this won’t take very long in the classroom, and students can test one another’s designs. You can even add that last piece where they can count how many dead ends they have, and how long it takes to get from the start to the finish, they could find the average time where they have multiple trials. So you can really extend this project if you would like or if you need a simple one-day challenge. You can do that as well. 


Naomi Meredith  08:35

The third November STEM activity that you can try in your classroom is to create a one-page engineer inspiration board. I love creating these boards, and I have them created for all of the months of the year and all of the major holidays throughout the year. Some of the things that you can celebrate in the month of November are Dia de Los Muertos, which is November 1, Thanksgiving, and you can even have a board that represents Veterans Day or even just the month of November in general. With this one-page board, you can have real images or icon images of things that represent that holiday or that month. This gives students inspiration to build it however they want. This works great for a soft star if you were starting off your day with STEM station rotation or if you need something for a substitute. These engineer inspiration boards are great for that because students can build with whatever materials they have on hand, whether it’s Makerspace items, blocks, playdough, or a combination of all those things. Then they can even share their designs by taking a picture or video of their work on the platform that you choose. 


Naomi Meredith  09:47

Finally, the fourth November STEM activity that you can try in your classroom is to create green screen videos that go along with people in STEM that you are thankful for. This is a great literacy and STEM connection because students will do some research about people in STEM who have made an impact. They might already know about some people, or there are so many different things to look up in Epic Books, which is my favorite research tool for students. If you want to hear more about other research tools that I love to use with my students, make sure to go back and check out episode 17. And, of course, I list Epic Books. But there are some other favorites that I love to use in this STEM space as well. Students can research their favorite inventor that they know about or another person instead and find out information about them and how they have made an impact in the world of STEM. You can, of course, have students create a bulletin board of their findings. But I also recommend making this even more interactive. Remember those talking heads that we used to have students do where they colored a picture of the person that they researched? They might even cut out a big hole where they could put their head within that poster board. Or sometimes we have them dress up as that person. Then you have something like a wax museum. Well, take that idea, and let’s bump it up a notch. You can have students create a script or a presentation about that person. They can pretend to be that person but use a green screen. If you have students wear a green shirt that matches the green background that you’re using or a blue shirt that matches the blue background. My personal favorite, I will say kids with super, super blonde hair, when you do green screen, there’s sometimes a tint of green in their hair, just the way the color of their hair is they have more yellow in it, and sometimes their hair will disappear. So I do like using blue because, with blue, I have had fewer issues when it comes to editing. But again, definitely your preference. Have students wear a colored shirt that matches the background, and then they can read their script and pretend to be that person. When you’re in the editing app, you can overlay a picture of the real person, but instead of their face, it’ll be the student’s face. One thing I have done, I don’t think it always matters, but you could use a green circle to cover up the person’s face that they’re talking about to make sure that it’s not showing, but I don’t think you’d necessarily always have to do that. But play around with it and see what you can do. I have a video example of this linked in the show notes. I remember doing this with my students, and I gave them no prior background. I just pressed play. When I recorded the video, I accidentally didn’t press stop right in time. So my head kind of floated off the screen, and the kids started screaming. So make sure to watch my video example. It’s pretty fun. But it’s a cool way to get kids excited about people in our world that have made a difference in the STEM community or just in our world in general and people that we should definitely be thankful for. 


Naomi Meredith  13:05

As a recap, here are the four November STEM activities that you can try in your classroom. First is the STEM in stories challenge that goes along with the great Turkey race. Next, our LEGO corn mazes. Third, our engineer inspiration boards, and fourth, people in STEM that we’re thankful for with a green screen twist. I hope you enjoy these fun, themed challenges. You know, I like a good theme. But I also love lessons that are rooted in standards and have a purpose in mind. It’s definitely good to mix these all up because there is a lot of STEM to teach. Thank you so much for joining me today, and I’ll see you in the next episode.

 

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

 

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

 

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a K-5 STEM educator and business owner in Colorado supporting elementary teachers world-wide navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there. With over a decade of experience teaching, 5 years teaching elementary STEM, along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM Certificate, Naomi helps teachers world-wide to navigate best practices, strategies and tools out there.

She offers a variety of tools to help teachers feel successful teaching STEM to their elementary students through lesson plans, online courses, coaching and speaking events.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM, innovation and hands-on learning in their classrooms effectively. She can’t wait to connect with you and be your guide!

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

Are you tired of scrolling online for your next great STEM lesson? Do you feel like there is no time to plan, research and test meaningful STEM lessons, so you throw together a hands-on activity and hope that it works? What systems and routines should you set in place to help students be creative, critically think, and collaborate? 

The Elementary STEM Coach is a podcast for K-5 STEM teachers, classroom teachers, GT specialists, and homeschool parents looking for actionable STEM solutions. Each week, Naomi Meredith will share tools, resources and lesson ideas that are actionable in your classroom and create highly engaging experiences with your students. You’ll learn systems and routines that will create control in the chaos and that will keep you organized all year long. 

Your mindless scrolling days are over! Your new STEM-best friend is now here in your ear buds!

how to teach a STEM lesson

How to Teach a STEM Lesson [ep.35]

How to Teach a STEM Lesson [ep.35]

how to teach a STEM lesson

Check out the full episode on How to Teach a STEM LEsson:  

 

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Have a STEM question? Leave a voice message for the podcast!

Watch the video version on YouTube here:

Episode Summary

Struggling to find a structure and a flow when teaching your STEM lessons?

In today’s episode, I’ll be sharing with you how to teach all of my K through five STEM lessons.

This method has allowed me to get through the content. Students are able to have enough work time, and it even saves a little room for cleanup at the end.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • How to teach a STEM lesson using the workshop model
  • What the workshop model is
  • Each stage of the workshop model

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith  00:00

Struggling to find a structure and a flow when teaching your STEM lessons? In today’s episode, I’ll be sharing with you the exact format that I use to teach all of my K through five STEM lessons. 


Naomi Meredith  00:11

This method has been a game changer for me during the past five years as a STEM teacher, and it has allowed me to get through the content. Students are able to have enough work time, and it even saves a little room for cleanup at the end. Let’s jump right in. 


Naomi Meredith  00:59

I originally taught in the classroom for six years before I landed my role in K through five STEM. I was in a brand new district with a brand new remodeled classroom, limited tools and zero curriculum. It was super overwhelming at first. But I knew that my time spent as a classroom teacher for six years before this role was definitely an asset. I even talked about this in episode 11 of the podcast, why classroom teachers make great STEM teachers. So go back and take a listen if this is a role that you have tumbled into, and you just don’t know where to begin. Overall, this is why I created this podcast. This is something that I wish I had, so I am giving back to you. We know that time goes by super fast as a teacher, especially as a specialist teacher. I’m going to be sharing with you the exact model that I use to teach all of my lessons in my classroom. This is a structure that I didn’t invent. You might be a little bit surprised by what I’m going to be sharing with you, and I’m ready to spill all the secrets. Do you want to hear what the model I use is? It’s the workshop model, not new, but I use this structure in my K through five STEM space for all of my lessons. I’m going to break down for you exactly how I use the workshop model. 


Naomi Meredith  02:22

In my classroom, I use the workshop model when integrating the Engineering Design Process with my projects and with STEM stations. I know that you can too. It will definitely give you the structure that you are looking for, and you don’t have to change it up every day. If you keep it the same every single day, students will know what to expect when they come into your classroom, and it will ease the stress of your teaching. It will definitely help you with time management with all of the things going on. Real quick, here’s an overview of the workshop model. If you haven’t used this method of teaching, think of the workshop model as a circle of a pie chart. So literally, your time is in a circle, you are going to break it up into a few different sections. I have my classes for 45 minutes, K through five. So depending on the time that you have with kids, you will adjust accordingly. I’m also not including the transition time that I have in between classes because that is separate from this workshop model. So keep that in mind as well. Within the workshop model, you have it broken up into three parts, but not three equal parts. You have a medium slice, a big slice of the pie, which is most of it and a tiny slice at the end. First, our medium slice is the mini lesson. For me my mini lessons are between five to eight minutes. After that you have the practice time. This is when students are collaborating, they’re working independently, or maybe they’re in station rotations. For me, my practice time is between 25 to 35 minutes. Finally, the tiniest slice of the pie that is between two to five minutes is your share, reflect and clean up. I structure all of my classes this way, and it just brings a ton of consistency. 


Naomi Meredith  04:12

But let’s really talk about what each of those timeframes look like, depending on the lesson that I’m teaching. Throughout the year, my second grade students come into my classroom often with their classroom computers. I don’t have a classroom set of computers in my room. So I have set this up from day one, that for 90% of the lessons that I’m going to teach students will carry their classroom computer with them to my classroom, we may or may not use it, but it’s just great that they have it. I also like to connect the lessons to what they’re doing within their class, even just by the simple fact of logging into their student computer. This gives them that extra practice. Yes, it might take longer sometimes, especially with the younger students, but I just want to set up the expectation that we will sometimes use tech now as a tool, not as a toy to help us with the lessons that we’re teaching. When students come in with their computer, their role is computer on the table, sit on the floor. When they sit on the floor, they are in my group meeting area and they’re ready to go for the lesson. If they don’t have their computer or if they’re younger students, they’re only one step direction is sit on the floor. One hundred percent of the time, I’ve talked about this in past episodes, I don’t have students sitting at the tables when I teach. My room is ginormous, and I don’t talk very loud. I know the kids aren’t listening to me when they are spread out along the room. Yes, K through five, my big kids do this as well. I don’t feel bad because in PE and music, they don’t have chairs either. They have to sit on the floor. So don’t feel bad at all. They are okay. They’re sitting on the floor in front of our group meeting area. That’s where I have my TV and all the materials ready to go to teach the lesson. 


Naomi Meredith  05:55

Another great way to maximize your time is on the screen, have a warm up question related to the project that you’re going to be working on. Or even have the slides that you will be teaching from ready to go have student examples, something related to the lesson that will pique their interest and get their mindset ready to go. I am very big on using every moment wisely. So even just the act of having something on the screen for students to look at and talk about with the people next to them is extremely valuable when I am teaching with the Engineering Design Process. All of my Engineering Design Process notebooks are digital. I actually don’t create separate slides to teach from. I teach from the student slides that I assigned to them. I will typically assign them in Seesaw, sometimes in Google Classroom, but I will be physically logged in as a teacher opening up the slides within that class I am teaching from so they can see me interact with the slides just as if they were as well. It’s great to connect the two together and the kids know they have access to everything that I am showing them. So nothing I am showing them is a surprise. If you are curious to hear more about the Engineering Design Process. I talked about this and a lot of my episodes, but more specifically in Episodes 15 and 17 through 21. So go back and take a listen. I break down each stage of the Engineering Design Process and how you can use this within your space. 


Naomi Meredith  07:28

When I am teaching the mini lesson, it is very short. It is a mini lesson and I am able to include everything I need to within the short amount of time. If you forget anything, you can pause the class during their practice and work time and remind them of the next steps. There is nothing wrong with that. The goal of this is when students are sitting down ready to learn, they are getting the bulk of the information from you. You are the teacher, you can keep teaching throughout the class time. When I’m teaching with the Engineering Design Process, the mini lesson is when I am introducing each step very specifically. Day one is when I would do the ask, imagine, and have students to start planning their designs. Day two is when students will be finishing up their designs and begin to create what they are hoping to design. Day three and four is all about more creation, experimenting, and improving. I might even introduce a modification checklist so the can see how to make their design better. All of my mini lessons are going to be really focused in on each of these stages. The final day is more experimenting, improving, and how students are going to share their work. 


Naomi Meredith  08:41

When I was a classroom teacher, I always taught with a workshop model anyway, and I am always teaching the next step. Some kids might not be ready for my lesson, but they know where they’re going. They can look back in their digital Engineering Design Process notebook from the week and see what they missed and what they need to keep working on to get to where I am teaching for the day. Again, I’m always teaching the next step and I tell my students that it’s okay if they’re not there yet. I’m teaching them where they are headed so they can be successful and know what to work on. This is also a time where I will build a background and the science behind what we are doing. This can be day one, but I will also do this during the week as well because students can always modify and change their design. So there’s nothing wrong with doing background information a little bit each day. This might be a related video that I found, a website, or an article. Again, these are all linked in their Engineering Design Process notebooks. I often have to show the class the videos at the same time because they are linked to YouTube and my district blocks YouTube. So that’s the only way that we can watch them. The kids know that they even want to watch it at home. They have access to these links as well for more specific lessons during this mini lesson. 


Naomi Meredith  09:53

If I’m doing a Makerspace project, this is where I would talk about the Makerspace menu and money system. If I am doing a technology project, this is also when I would talk about very specific things on how to get connected to the technology. For example, if I am teaching robotics with a Sphero, or a Dash robot, this is where I will physically show them how to connect to that robot. I also have visual directions that I will post after my mini lesson. I will refer to them when I am teaching. So I will model how to get to that specific technology. But then that digital anchor chart will also be posted with visuals to remind students how to do the steps that I just talked about. I highly recommend making these anchor charts digital and not cluttering your walls with all of them. Unless you’re using the same tool K through five, I don’t have a whole lot of wall space. I’m very specific about the things that I hang up. I want everything to be purposeful in my classroom for all classes. That’s why I will make a lot of these anchor charts digital, of course, they’re linked to my TPT shop. But that way, I can pull up what I need. It’s very specific for that class, and I don’t have to print a million things. I don’t have the time for that either.


Naomi Meredith  11:07

If I’m doing a station rotation, the mini lesson is also the time where I will build the background knowledge and have a related video about the topic. I will also show students how to complete each of the stations. I will do the same process for both days of stations. I do for station rotations, when I do stations with my younger students, I will have a station for each letter of STEM. They will complete two stations a day. Same process. I don’t assume that they remember how to do the stations. Some will and some won’t. Some kids are absent, some kids were new for the day. So I always will review those expectations for my classes who have a hard time with behavior. I will also, during this mini lesson, go over the specific ways of how they can earn their class incentive and refer to each of those expectations as well. This mini lesson is when I am the star of the show. Going over those very specific things I need them to do during their work time. I am not up there for very long. So I really have to get the most bang for my buck during this time. Because the majority of class time they are going to be working on their projects, whatever it is that we are doing for the week. I do realize that it can be tricky when you are using technology as one of your main sources of tools. Then you want to show them how to use the technology. Then you want to show them how it’s going to connect to everything. When this happens, this is usually for me when we are doing a coding platform and Engineering Design Process notebook. 


Naomi Meredith  14:14

If that is digital or even logging into 3D printing, I will break up the mini lesson and the practice time that’s student work time. Often I will get their excitement, build a little bit of background, then I will show students how to connect to the tool or how to log in how to get that all set up. So I tell them we’re getting our materials ready first, and then I’m going to show you how to use that. I will show them those steps have the visual directions backup for them. They will go get their materials ready, leave them ready to go and then come back to the floor for students who need a lot more support. There’s only one of you and a lot of them. I will show them all the steps and let’s say it’s a Engineering Design Process notebook I want them to get to, I will have the visual steps on one side and then the page I want them in their engineering notebook ready to go. I will tell them when everybody at your table has their screen matching mine, you will come to the floor, nothing in your hands. So that means that all the kids have to help each other at their table. They can’t do it for them, they have to be the YouTube tutorial and show them how to do it by pointing. Then when everybody is ready to go, then they can come to the floor. This has really helped where students are being more independent and helpful when it comes to technology, and not always relying on me for every single troubleshooting issue. This also frees me up for the students who really are having problems that none of the kids can solve. I’m not running around fixing everything. There are usually at least a couple of kids at each table who can be successful and who are happy to help. 


Naomi Meredith  15:47

From there, I will finish off the mini lesson where the kids are on the floor, the materials are ready to go. I’ll show them how to use it, how it relates to the lesson. Then we will move on to that practice time because everything is set up and ready to go. So this is a great way to break it up where the kids aren’t sitting for 20 minutes. You’re kind of merging that mini lesson and that work time together. Now we are officially moving on to that practice time when it comes to the workshop model. And of course, I have all the helpful tools posted up on my screen ready for kids to access. My favorite that I have mentioned before is classroomscreen.com, where you can upload images. There’s timer widgets, there’s a text box where you can type things, you can have everything displayed all nicely in one place. You don’t have to minimize your tabs and make them fit perfectly. Everything is all there for you and I highly recommend checking that out if you haven’t used classroomscreen.com already. I will almost always have a timer up on my screen during the student work time. So students are aware of how much time they have to work in my class. During station rotations, I actually don’t only because I do stations with Kindergarten and first grade. I kind of have to gauge what is going on in the classroom. I will typically set a timer on my watch, and I will use that as a guide noticing if groups are a little bit squirrely. Or if they need a little bit more time, they sometimes will ask me how much time they have left, I will always tell them. 


Naomi Meredith  17:21

But this actually worked well for station rotations just based on the class and their experience with station rotations and how they’re feeling that day with the materials at hand. When students are working, they usually want to work with others when it’s on station rotations. I allow them to work in groups of one, two or three. Our projects are usually really small. I’m really big about having small projects because they’re easier to store. I tell them if you want to be a group of four, just do two and two, that way, you have more of a chance to work on everything. This has worked really well. I used to do bigger groups in the past, but I realized not all kids had a chance to participate, there wasn’t enough for them to do. So keeping groups smaller really helps with the collaboration they had can have a voice during their work time and feel like that they are involved in the project. During this time, I will be roaming the room assisting as needed. I’m really big about ask three before me, especially when it comes to troubleshooting or what questions they have. Again, I am the guide on the side, I am not the star of the show during this work time. I am during the mini lesson, trust me, you should see me in action. But during this work time, it’s all about them getting all the work done that they have at hand. 


Naomi Meredith  18:36

Finally, the last part of the workshop model that is the smallest and that is the share, reflect and I added in that clean up. For me this is about two to five minutes, it is quick, and I am able to get my classes to clean up very fast here and there. I will have a class who are very, very slow cleaning up, they might need more time. I keep that in mind and balance it all out. But for the most part, most classes can clean up in about five minutes. When it comes to station rotations, they will clean up before they rotate. So again, I’ll have that mini lesson we have the video building background, I show them how to do the stations, they will work in their stations, then they will clean up and stand at their clean station. They’re not allowed to go anywhere. They don’t know where they’re going. They have to be cleaned up before they’re able to rotate. After all the stations are cleaned up, I will have them stand there I will go to that station, I will stay in there with them and show them how to point to their next station. When everybody’s pointing to their next station, they will walk to the next one and work on what they have at hand. 


Naomi Meredith  19:39

Again, when the time is up, they will clean up they’ll stand up their clean station and then they’ll come and join me on the floor and we will learn and then we will reflect on the learning for the day. For an Engineering Design Process project we will clean up and then they will either sit at their tables or they’ll all join me on the floor depending on where we’re at with that cleanup. I like to use the same reflection questions that are in their  Engineering Design Process notebooks at the very end, what went well? What was the challenge for them? If they were to do this project again, what would they work on? I might even ask them what went well, what would you recommend? So for kids who are going to be on that next stage tomorrow, what advice would they give them. So questions like this are really helpful to talk about as a class, and to really close up everything that happened for the day, you can also make a digital check in a lot like what Jill mentioned in her guest interview and a past episode, but you could do a digital check in as to where they’re at in the Engineering Design Process, or how they are feeling and that part of the process. You could create this in a Google slide or a Google jam board, and there is a little circle that has the kids classroom number, and they can move that little circle as to where they are feeling. A lot of different ways to reflect, you don’t have to go overboard with this. But it’s good to have some sort of closure, where it’s not just clean up, run out the door. When we’re all done for the day, I will let the class know if they earn their classic incentive, and then they will go line up in my green hallway so they are ready to go for the teacher. Again, I don’t have them lineup in my classroom because if the teacher is late or if another class is early, then they are all in the hallway, and they’re ready for that teacher. Then I can clean up any last things prepare any last materials before my next class comes for the day. 


Naomi Meredith  21:22

As a recap, here is how to teach a STEM lesson when using the workshop model. First, we talked about what the workshop model is, then you move on to the mini lesson to start it all off. The bulk of your work time is that practice time, then you piece it all together with the share, reflect and clean up time by creating a predictable structure for all of your lessons K through five, not only will this be helpful for you as a teacher, it’ll create that consistency for the students. So when they step into your space, they will always know what is going on with the actual content, but the structure is always going to be the same. This is going to help with your classroom management, behavior management, and even help you get through all of the content, no matter how much time you have with kids, and how often that you see them.

 

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

 

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a K-5 STEM educator and business owner in Colorado supporting elementary teachers world-wide navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there. With over a decade of experience teaching, 5 years teaching elementary STEM, along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM Certificate, Naomi helps teachers world-wide to navigate best practices, strategies and tools out there.

She offers a variety of tools to help teachers feel successful teaching STEM to their elementary students through lesson plans, online courses, coaching and speaking events.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM, innovation and hands-on learning in their classrooms effectively. She can’t wait to connect with you and be your guide!

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

Are you tired of scrolling online for your next great STEM lesson? Do you feel like there is no time to plan, research and test meaningful STEM lessons, so you throw together a hands-on activity and hope that it works? What systems and routines should you set in place to help students be creative, critically think, and collaborate? 

The Elementary STEM Coach is a podcast for K-5 STEM teachers, classroom teachers, GT specialists, and homeschool parents looking for actionable STEM solutions. Each week, Naomi Meredith will share tools, resources and lesson ideas that are actionable in your classroom and create highly engaging experiences with your students. You’ll learn systems and routines that will create control in the chaos and that will keep you organized all year long. 

Your mindless scrolling days are over! Your new STEM-best friend is now here in your ear buds!